Lovely Mine
by Bearhusky51
Summary: "What do you want to be when you grow up?" "I don't get to grow up." Sixteen-year-old Dawn, in the last year of her life, is stuck with an emotional mother and the "cold-hearted jerk", Paul Shinji. So far, her encounter with Paul has been pretty strange, from a near death experience to her first kiss. The new year has only just begun. Rated M for language and sexual themes.
1. My Shock

**Whoo!**

 **Here's my second little story and I feel I've gotten way better at writing this past year since Pokemon: Survival Of The Fittest was started.**

 **There may be small sections including other ships, but for now, the main focus point is Ikarishipping because it's my favorite!**

 **If you have not already read Survival Of The Fittest, I encourage you to check it out. But please note that when I started it, I had pretty much no idea what I was doing so the writing seems like that of a beginner. As for this story, I will put all of my effort in to give you guys something to look forward to. This fanfiction will be updated at the same time as the other one at least once every week.**

 **So I'll be doing my best to juggle school work, art, and writing at the same time.**

 **I guess I'll just do a brief introduction:**

 **This is not a fantasy story and is in fact a realistic-fiction fanfiction. There is the usual school involved, but I promise I'll make it more interesting than most other fanfics that involve highschool. Oh, and romance is of course, one of the more important themes of this along with acceptance of others which you'll end up seeing later on.**

 **Without further a do, I present Lovely Mine!**

* * *

 _Disclaimer:*_

I don't own Pokemon

* * *

 _Chapter 1: My Shock_

 _o-o-o_

"I can't believe it..."

"Neither can I."

"My baby will never be able to fall in love!"

"But, Ms. Berlitz, why are you telling us and not Dawn?"

Three figures stood in a dark hallway, two just barely shorter than the other standing before them. Johanna, the mother of Dawn, let her face rest in her hands. She just shook her head, refusing to listen anymore to the two other figures. It had been years since her loving husband had disappeared without any traces to be found. And now, she was going to lose the treasure that got her up in the morning.

"Are you trying to ask us to tell her for you?" One of the figures, Leaf fiddled with the hem of her skirt. The woman hesitated before slowly nodding in response.

"You're her mother! Why on earth should you not be the one to break the news to her?!" May, the last figure, almost screamed, glaring at Johanna. Her fists clenched and she was about to say more, but Leaf grabbed her hand and gave it a tight squeeze.

"I... I can't!" Johanna cried out, lifting her head from her hands. Tears rolled down her face and the woman's posture looked very tense, causing May's gaze to soften. "How on earth can I tell my little ball of sunshine who smiles so much for me when I'm like this?!" She choked, quivering slightly.

"W-well..." Speechless, the girl dropped her head to look at the ground. May tightly clutched Leaf's hand for support, biting her lip and saying nothing else.

"Shh... Dawn's right behind that door." Leaf murmured, glancing over to the light gray entry to Dawn's hospital room. It was about four in the morning and hardly anyone but the doctors treating Dawn were there along with any other patients that maybe suspended to the hospital.

"Leaf, she can't hear us anyways, she's probably behind that door continuing to flail about and gasp for breath while they work." May snorted, looking back up at Ms. Berlitz who knew very well that her daughter was still suffering every second they wasted talking. But then again, there really was nothing that they could do but wait.

"That was rude... Ms. Berlitz, don't mind May, she just gets a bit... careless with her words. Dawn will be fine." The girl yawned before ushering Johanna to a nearby bench, right across the hallway. Just minutes ago, they were called to the hospital when Dawn's lungs began to fail on her. Apparently she had just barely gotten to the nurse call button.

"She's got about a year left... I honestly knew that this day would come for her... But I shunned the thought to live in the moment." Johanna sniffed, wiping away the tears. It had been three years since Dawn was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, surprising everyone as the disease is extremely rare among children. She was confined to a wheel chair after too many of her motor neurons were damaged in the second year and had been doing fine, until just yesterday when she was brought into the hospital. The muscles she could control in her legs were hopeless but her teachers didn't worry much as she could still complete work. However now, Dawn could not move the muscles in her right arm and hand. Her sudden lung failure surprised them all as everything seemed to be crashing down on her at once. It was miracle enough that she'd get to live through the fourth year.

"Living in the moment..." May grumbled, shutting her eyes and taking a deep breath. "I guess that was the right thing to do... For Dawn, at least."

"I just... I don't know what I'll do if she doesn't get through this.." Johanna's words hung in the air as neither Leaf nor May said anything else. A period of silence which seemed like hours overtook them. Muffled sounds just barely passed through the thick wall separating them all from the girl, causing the worry among them to raise and atmosphere to thicken.

The tick tocks of the clock mounted on the wall above the doors only added to their stresses and worries. Leaf folded her hands and placed them in her lap, nervously looking around. Meanwhile, May checked her phone for any notifications before turning it completely off and standing up, attracting the eyes of both Leaf and Johanna.

"I've got to go, my mom and dad are demanding that I leave... I'm sorry that I can't stay.." Guilt flooded over her as she gathered her things.

"But it's a Friday and Dawn is a friend!" Leaf's eyebrows knitted together. Being left alone with a woman she'd have to calm down and console did not seem like the easiest thing on earth. Unlike May's, Leaf's parents didn't seem to care about her whereabouts or what she did which made her extremely jealous of her friend. However she pushed that thought aside and flashed May a hopeful look.

"Sorry, Ms. Berlitz, May, but I can't." Shaking her head, May waved before walking down the hallway towards the exit. Her footsteps rang in the heads of both Johanna and Leaf, causing the earth around them to seem even more lonely. Silence. The cold bench was the only thing that kept them awake as they waited for what seemed like hours more.

Just as Leaf was about to close her eyes and fall sleep, the glowing red light just above the doors to the Emergency Room darkened. Her eyes widened and anticipation lit up her face along with Johanna's. Hard footsteps against the floor thud and made their way towards the entry. With a loud bang, the gray doors slammed open, doctors and surgeons filtering out of the room. Dawn's mother was the first to stand and make her way closer to the doorway where a man dressed in all white like the others was filling out a patient report. He handed the clipboard he was filling out to a nurse and sent her on her way down the hall.

"Dr. Joyce..." Her throat was dry and the words she uttered were thick as she thought about what to say next. The said man turned and looked at Johanna before flashing her a small smile and adjusting the glasses on his face. Seconds later, Leaf stood and slowly made her way across the hall to stand beside the woman to hear the news.

"She's quite tired, you can visit her and possibly take her to school tomorrow. Let her have the rest of the day to rest before you try to visit her. We will contact you if anything happens." Dr. Joyce crossed his arms and watched as relieved smiles crossed their faces.

"Thank you so much." Johanna wiped at the tears that were beginning to well up in her eyes. However upon saying that, Joyce's warm expression faded into a more serious look.

"Don't rest and let your guard down now, Dawn just barely made it through the procedure. The next time, she may not be so lucky as her diaphragm is now weaker than most people's. Though she'll never walk even if she survives longer than the expected year, try to limit her movements." He sighed, handing her some of Dawn's papers. It seemed as if the pile of papers was getting even bigger as the months passed by, causing Johanna to purse her lips as she took the documentation from his hands.

"I see... Thank you anyways." She flashed him a grateful look before folding the papers and placing them carefully in her purse.

"I'll be going now." Dr. Joyce nodded before looking over to Leaf. "I think you need to get this young lady home soon."

"Ah.. Yes, we'll head out now. I will stop by tomorrow to take her over to the school, until then, make sure she recovers quickly today." Smiling, the woman gently tapped Leaf on the shoulder before walking towards the exit. Smaller footsteps echoed as Leaf followed right behind her as Johanna was her ride.

It hurt Leaf a little to only be able to watch as her friend's mother's shoulders shook as she let out tears. On the way, Leaf couldn't rid herself of the image of Johanna's tears being lit up by the headlights of cars. Of course it'd be painful for her mother, but she herself was worried about Dawn. Johanna wasn't the only one concerned for Dawn. Leaf would miss her friend dearly if she died, but she was prepared for the worst anyways. Even if Dawn passed, she'd always have May and on the bright side, the girl's suffering from the disease would end.

There was nothing much anyone could do now but wait. Wait until the year passed and wait until an inevitable death.

* * *

"Thank you for taking me to school today!"

Dawn smiled gently as her mother opened the car door and wheeled her out of the backseat. She felt comforting warmth as the sun hit her face and familiar sounds of the other students rushing to get to homeroom entered her ears.

"Of course, as long as you're feeling better." Johanna hummed, caressing the side of her daughter's face. It wasn't long until Dawn's eyes set on May who was walking with Leaf. They waved at her before May stepped forward and latched onto the handles of her wheelchair. "I'll leave you to your friends."

"Thanks!" She thanked her mother again before watching as the woman closed that back door and walked around to the front. In a matter of seconds, her mother was gone, the sound of the rumbling engine still ringing in her ears. "Hey guys." Dawn looked up at her friends.

"Long time no see, Dawn!" May grinned, pushing her towards the school gates. Leaf was soon walking right next to them as they headed straight for class. It had been a couple days since her lungs failed on her and she was sent to the ER. Now Monday, she was back at school. Faintly, she could remember her world spinning and getting blurry as the surgeons worked until finally, light broke through and it was the middle of the afternoon. There were no visitors for her which saddened Dawn a bit, but she shook it off and slept some more when her doctor told her that she'd be able to leave for school the next morning. For her, going to school was exciting as usually she spent time in the hospital, at checkups, or at home. Her mother used to tell her everyday that things were going to get better and she'd be able to marry and have children then attend her funeral. However she stopped reassuring Dawn years ago which made her a bit skeptical.

Dawn waved to the students whom she recognized around her with her working left hand. From the waist down she was paralyzed as a result of ALS, but it was beginning to take over her body, starting with her arms. She could feel eyes on her, burning into her as May wheeled her by to the classroom. Awkward, the girl stopped waving and rested her left arm next to her right.

"Hey... Who's that?"

"Don't you know? That's Dawn?"

"Why is she in a wheelchair?"

"What's she doing at school?"

"Did we have someone like that at our school?"

"She'd be really pretty if she didn't have that bulky wheelchair."

"Don't look at her."

"Apparently it's bad to make eye contact with her, it's a bad omen."

"Isn't she diseased?"

"Diseased?!"

"Ew, gross!"

"So that means she's contagious, right?"

"What the hell is she doing here then? She's going to get everyone sick!"

"What's her disease?"

"Well, apparently it's Lou Gehrig's disease."

"So ALS, right?"

"Sucks to be her, that's life-threatening."

Leaf and May shot glares at the others around them as they made way for her. Dawn lowered her head, not wanting to look at her fellow peers anymore. Murmurs and whispers filled the hallways until finally, they neared the classroom. Sliding it open for her and May, Leaf let them pass before following and directing her to where her desk is. It had been so long, Dawn had almost forgotten where she was seated.

A chair which was at her desk was removed by May and before she knew it, she was being pushed into it. Sending them both grateful looks, Dawn reached and pulled a notebook out of a black compartment attached to her wheelchair. The mutters and snickers that she heard in the hallway carried to the class as students began to arrive.

"I feel bad for her parents."

Freezing, Dawn slowly set her things down on her desk with small tapping noises. One more, her two friends circled around her like hawks, only they were sending death looks to the ones outside of the circle. Her head went down again to look at her useless limbs and right hand which she could no longer move. It made her feel pathetic and want to do more with herself. However, there were not many jobs that could be done well with only one arm and a non-dominant one to add. In all, she was pretty much dead weight to her mother who would have to find out that she'd wasted thousands of dollars raising Dawn if her disease really was going to end up killing her soon.

Clenching her left hand into a fist, Dawn bit her lip and shut her eyes. If she cleared her mind of such thoughts, then they wouldn't bother her. Although, doing so was very difficult even when she had Leaf and May around her hushing those who rudely spoke of her.

"Don't pay any mind to them."

A friendly voice came from in front of her and her friends. She lifted her head to take a good look at whoever possessed such a kind tone. Her eyes settled on a boy with odd green hair and a flirtatious look on his face. Next to him was a spiky brown-haired boy who had the same expression, though it seemed to be directed towards Leaf.

"You're not going to win her heart by giving her false support, Drew." May laughed, crossing her arms and plopping down in the desk diagonal from Dawn's and in front of Leaf's. Rather than sticking over by her, the one called Drew trailed right after May.

"And you'll never get a boyfriend with that attitude." He grinned before receiving a punch in the shoulder.

"Screw you." She scowled before turning back to Dawn. "While you were absent, we met two little fuckers."

"Little fuckers?" Dawn laughed a little bit, causing both Gary and Drew's faces to redden in both embarrassment and anger.

"Filter please." Leaf rolled her eyes, shoving her books in her desk and getting out a notebook and pencil before copying down something on the electronic board at the front of the room.

"That _sweet sweet_ angel is just running her mouth." The chartreuse-haired boy coughed, flicking his hair.

"Leafy, you free this weekend?" Gary completely ignored the conversation, sitting on the other desk next to Leaf. She ignored him, beginning to write down the same thing in May's notebook.

"Drew and Gary. They're both flirt-nuggets, but don't worry, they're also worthless." May smirked a little at Dawn who raised an eyebrow and said nothing in response.

"I'm not a 'flirt-nugget', I'm a sexy beast and you know it, Maple." He ran his fingers through his hair before waggling his eyebrows.

"That 'sexy beast' is definitely a beast." She grumbled, averting her eyes to the notebook that Leaf had filled out in front of her. Drew pestered her a bit more before returning to his own desk a couple rows away.

"You children, take your seats... I don't get paid enough.." The teacher stumbled in, muttering the last part to himself. Obediently the remaining students fled the halls to the room and took their seats while the others quickly closed off their conversations. Dawn giggled silently to herself, missing her teacher's moping and self-pitying grumbles.

It felt amazing to have a group of friends. Usually it was just May and Leaf switching off as Leaf paid a whole lot of attention to her studies while May talked to her in class. On the other hand, Leaf frequently visited her in the hospital and hung around her after school while May wasn't allowed to go out a whole lot and usually had make-up classes to take. But, there were rare times when all three of them would be together.

Class seemed very fast compared to the medical procedures that seemed to last forever. Conversing was over as soon as the professor walked in yet started up as soon as it was over. This repeated over and over, the same old boring things that Dawn found herself loving. Again and again she was wheeled as hours passed and different classes began and ended.

"Do you have to go to the bathroom?"

May yawned, stretching as the final period came to an end much to Dawn's disappointment.

"No. But will you be around to help me outside?" She replied, placing her textbook in the compartment attached to her wheelchair.

"Yeah, but wait outside the classroom for me." Her friend smiled before taking the handles of her chair and pushing her out the door. May scooted her off to the side before leaving her. Winking, she waved and headed off in the direction of the girls' bathroom.

Leaf and the other two boys had their final class on the other side of the school so there was a low chance that they'd see each other in the hallways now. Since May didn't have any extra classes today, it was decided that she would be the one to escort her to the car. However, it took a bit of walking to get to the bathroom from here and it seemed like it would be a while until she got back. Even so, Dawn had all the time in the world as she was scheduled to go to a check in with her doctor immediately after-school and would do anything just to stall.

Patiently, she leaned back in her wheelchair and stared up at the ceiling. She was feeling a bit drowsy as her vision began to blur and her eyelids began to shut. Soon, the loud purr of the students moving through the halls and talking to their peers began to slow and grow quiet. It had only been a couple minutes since May had left her there and a majority of the others in the school were already gone or at least out the doors.

"Paul.."

"Hey Paul!"

"Listen to her.."

Feminine voices filled Dawn's ears and seemed to be getting closer to her. Choosing to ignore it, she simply kept her eyes closed in hopes that they wouldn't try to question her or make comments towards her.

"Paulie, stop looking at your phone and pay attention to _us_!" A girl whined loudly.

In an instant, her eyes shot open as her chair was slammed into by something and roughly tipped over. A clacking sound rang out and a loud grunt was heard. Crying out, Dawn panicked, looking everywhere and trying to pull herself upwards with her one good arm. Pain seared through her torso due to part of her wheelchair falling down on her. However, the nerves in her lower body could not be felt at all and were most likely bruised a bit now.

"Damn it..!" A rough, masculine voice cursed. Looking up, she watched as the blurry figure in front of her stooped to pick up what seemed to be his glowing phone. It seemed as if he had been walking and unexpectedly ran into her wheelchair. Vision clearing up, Dawn locked eyes with the boy in front of her. He had an expressionless face with purplish hair and coal-black eyes that glared straight at her. "What the...? Why aren't you getting u-"

He froze as he realized that the thing he ran into was not a simply desk chair but a wheelchair. His eyes trailed down to her paralyzed legs which were slim and definitely delicate-looking. Luckily, Dawn had chosen to wear long, pitch black socks which pulled up to her mid-thigh that morning so hardly any flesh was exposed. However despite having quick, brief flash of guilt show on his face, the boy simply stared down at her before turning to one of the girls standing around him.

There were two girls, one, a sly yet somewhat cute looking girl with curly pink hair who wore a uniform that did anything but follow the school's dress code. Her skirt was short and her socks did nothing to cover the exposed skin. Jewelry hung from her wrists, ears, and neck while she did nothing to cover up her cleavage which seemed to burst from the white dress shirt and blazer she wore.

And the other, a girl who looked admittedly attractive, possessing bleach-blonde hair, a petite frame, and a uniform that actually covered more skin than needed. This girl wore a long sleeved white dress shirt which was buttoned to the top along with a cream colored sweater vest which matched her hair. The blazer she wore was buttoned up halfway but her skirt was mid-thigh length and her socks also met her thighs like Dawn's. A very modest look.

Though the way she dressed may have just been decided due to the fact that it looked good, either that or she came from a very modest family. Dawn bet that the uniform she wore was blazing hot, even though it was only the beginning of January. Still struggling to stand, Dawn shook her opinions of the people standing before her away before scooting a bit further from the boy's feet.

"Who is this girl?" The boy asked the other girls who had either unfriendly or awkward looks on their faces. Obviously, at least one of them were irritated because Dawn had unintentionally interrupted their flirt attempts however the other looked plain uncomfortable. But, the thing that attracted Dawn's attention the most was the fact that the boy questioned the girls with no menace at all in his voice.

"That's... Dawn Berlin, I think." The girl with blonde hair replied slowly. It was a good shot at her last name, but at least she knew her first name.

"No, that's ALS Alice." Laughing, the pink haired girl pointed her finger at Dawn, a somewhat cruel look crossing her face. Blondie just stayed quiet, though hesitantly nodding her head as if agreeing with the other girl.

"ALS Alice?" The boy muttered in confusion. He shoved his phone in his pockets and directed his full attention to Dawn.

"If you say 'ALS' really fast, it sounds like 'Alice'. So that's her official nickname. She usually ditches school which is why you've probably never heard of her." The girl grinned before chuckling at her own explanation. She harshly elbowed the blonde in the side, causing her to wince and urging her to laugh.

"I don't ditch school..." Dawn murmured silently, trying to sit up but falling forwards instead. Holding herself up once more with her left arm, she struggled again.

"What was that, Alice?"

"Ursula, we should just go." Furrowing her eyebrows, the blonde girl tried the pink haired girl whose name was apparently Ursula.

"Shut up, Brook, we're not leaving yet, it's just getting good between Alice and Paulie." Ursula roughly shoved the one called Brook when she tried to extend her hand to Dawn. She stumbled and crashed into the lockers, a bit shocked with the harsh way her friend had just treated her.

"ALS... Lou Gehrig's disease?" ' _Paulie'_ grumbled.

Nodding, Dawn's face flushed with embarrassment and the shame that she shouldn't be feeling. Falling back against the closed door to the classroom which was now empty, she stopped her struggles. Her chest heaved as she gasped for breath, it had been a while since she'd moved around so much. He reached for her, but Ursula slapped his hand away causing him to send her a look that could kill.

"Paulie, don't touch her, ALS is a life-threatening disease! You might catch it." Ursula looked down at Dawn, ignoring Brook's slightly frustrated pleads to just leave the school.

"Don't call me that, it's just Paul." He snapped before adjusting his blazer and dark red tie which hung loosely around his neck. "And I'm not stupid, ALS is not contagious."

Dawn's head had begun to hurt a little as she let herself slump. Reaching up with her left hand, she rubbed her temple. It had been about ten minutes since May set off to the bathroom and she still wasn't back to help her. She was about done, dying of embarrassment and shame while her chest and lungs began to hurt.

"Ursula, let's go!" Brook shouted, pulling at Ursula's arm. However, Ursula's other hand simply flew backwards before connecting with her face. Hurt and furious, the blonde roughly grabbed onto her and wouldn't let go. Without bothering to see if Paul was coming, Brook dragged her ' _friend_ ' down the halls towards the exit. Just before, Dawn could've sworn she flashed her an apologetic look.

Leaving just Paul and her. She stayed quiet, not daring to say a single word in hopes that he would just walk away. Her eyes stared down at the ground until a rattling sound entered her ears. Shock overtook her as she looked up to see the said boy picking up her wheelchair and placing her books back into it's compartment.

"So... You're the famous ' _diseased'_ student." He muttered, reaching out to help her up. Though she would've gladly accepted his help earlier, Dawn didn't feel like doing it now. Especially when he just stood by and stared at her wondering who she was rather than helping her. It was mortifying and it made her feel something as stupid as ashamed of herself for something Dawn could not help. With as much force as she could muster, Dawn smacked his hand away with her left hand.

"Do **not** call me that. I am **not** infected." She spat bitterly, feeling tears well up in her eyes as her breathing grew more ragged.

"Well then you're Dawn Berlin, right?" Paul quietly questioned, letting his hand fall to his side as he looked down at her.

"Berlitz... Dawn Berlitz." The girl's throat felt like it was on fire and she could hear her own heart beat rapidly.

"Berlitz.. I see... Paul Shinji." He mumbled awkwardly, looming over her. Though she was sitting down, Dawn bet that if she could stand, he'd be at least a foot taller than her. His voice was neither cold nor friendly and it was more like he had nothing to do or at least, didn't know what to do.

"Well then go home, Paul. There's nothing else to see here." There was something wrong. The familiar burning sensation in her lungs was beginning to return and it was getting harder for her to breath.

"Sure... I'll see you tomorrow.." Not bothering to fight back, he turned to walk away.

"What the fuck did you do to her?!"

May screeched, dashing down the halls of the school. She looked furious and worried as she stormed right at Paul. He did not budge from his spot, letting her ram in right into the wall beside the door that Dawn leaned up against.

"A friend of yours..?" Paul grunted, eyes flickering towards her before he moved just in time to dodge May's punch. Wincing, she pulled back her fist and made an attempt to hit his face. However Paul reacted faster, grabbing her fist with his before shoving her off of him.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Paul?! She's fucking handicapped and a good-girl yet you push her out of her god damned wheelchair?!" Now breathing almost as heavily as Dawn, May took her red bandana, which was originally tied around her wrist, and wrapped it around her forehead. Paul laughed at her either habit or attempt to be serious. "I'm not shitting around, you bastard!"

"Calm yourself, it was an accident." He stopped laughing and met her furious glare.

"Doesn't look like it!" May stepped towards him, fists clenched and ready to fight him. But, Paul didn't look even the littlest bit interested in fighting her.

"May, it was an accident originally, but some stuff happened.." Dawn coughed and choked, muscles beginning to spas and limbs starting to flail about. Tears of pain slipped down her face as she gasped and cried out in an attempt to gather more air in her lungs. They were failing on her once more and this time, Dawn knew for sure that was what was happening.

Everything ached and her eyes grew bloodshot. She wanted to scream her lungs out and suck in air, but nothing was going in or out.

"Dawn!" Directing her attention from Paul, she approached her side and hauled her towards her wheelchair, but it was difficult with her moving about so frantically. Her heart sped up as May began to grab at her and drag her to the wheelchair causing more pain and panic. Quietly, Paul whipped out his phone and dialed 911, quickly speaking in his low voice to answer questions about whereabouts. In a matter of seconds he was done, wordlessly helping May lift Dawn into her wheelchair. Though it would've been faster to carry her, May probably wouldn't let him, despite the scenario.

"Stop moving around! You're just wasting oxygen!" He leaned down, towards her ear and growled, causing her movements to cease as he ran beside May who blasted down the halls towards the exit. As long as they could get to the gates of the school, she'd have less of a wait to get to the hospital. Why he was doing so much for a girl he just met? Paul himself didn't know.

Dawn felt chills as she shook, trying her best not to move around too much. It was difficult to calm herself and she could feel herself getting light headed. Everything was fuzzy and blurry as she was rushed towards the exit. The familiar sounds of doors slamming open shocked her ears and sunlight blinded her even more than she already was. Even though she was in a whole lot of pain and fear was beginning to take over, Dawn couldn't help but think that she should be used to this by now.

For a brief moment, she felt herself being lifted up. Whoever was holding her was struggling a little and their arms felt thin and less muscular. It was most likely May who was holding her and running with her. Of course, May was protective of her. She probably refused to let Paul touch Dawn before picking her up and moving towards the ambulance without him. Her guess was proven correct when whoever was carrying her stumbled, giving Dawn a flash of a

In a matter of seconds, sirens sounded off. They weren't as scary as they were when her body first began to break down. Honestly, they were now more like repetitive lullabies to her. If she heard that sound, it meant that she was going to get help, not that she was going to die. That sound was pacifying, though somewhat terrifying to others her age.

She heard her name being called numerous times, going along with the hums of the sirens. Pressure could be felt in thick horizontal lines going across her body. Dawn smiled lightly, knowing that it meant that May must've gotten her to the ambulance and that she was now being transported. Sure, May was strong, both physically and mentally, but Dawn knew that both she and her friend owed a lot to Paul. Paul, who had just met her compared to May, who was used to this procedure, was pretty amazing in her own opinion.

A cold breathing mask could be felt, pressed against her face and tubes were slid into her mouth and nose. Her lungs seared with pain and more tears fell from her face. Then, she could just barely sense antibiotics and drugs being slipped into her body. Feeling herself calm down, Dawn took a deep breath of air. It felt incredibly good to have the cold, fresh air slip down her throat again.

Dawn could not hear much, but her vision was beginning to clear up. More drowsy than before, she slowly shut her eyes, too tired to keep them open.

* * *

"We're going through with it, but I am serious when I say that she now must have an escort with her at all times."

Dr. Joyce ran his fingers through his hair in stress before writing out yet another prescription for Dawn. Putting her on the new medicine would help her keep from exerting herself too much.

"I see..." Johanna had rushed to the hospital upon receiving an urgent call from Joyce. May had told them everything but another boy, who showed up with her, had told a whole different side of the story. Either way, she couldn't bring herself to be mad in the current crisis. As she sat down to fill out paperwork, a sigh escaped her mouth. She would much rather have Dawn die than suffer this much. However the fact that such a thought crossed her mind disgusted her.

"This is all your fault!" May hissed, voice echoing down the hall. The girl seemed to be having a stare down with the boy named Paul. His eyes were dark along with his expression as he stared back. Johanna lifted her head to look at the two teenagers, pursing her lips. If he really had pushed her daughter out of the wheelchair, then the woman would've been furious. But something was stopping her anger. It was hard to believe that someone like him could even get acquainted with someone as sunny and kind as Dawn.

"I told you, I didn't do anything!" Paul growled, pushing her back a couple feet and away from him.

"You totally did! You're lucky Dawn was nice enough to defend you!" She snarled, throwing a punch. However, the boy effortlessly moved out of the way, hands shoved in the pockets of his pants.

"If she dies... You'll be the one to blame!" May pointed an accusing finger at him. He stepped back away from her, regret flooding over his body. But really, he wasn't the direct cause of Dawn's lung failure, right?

"I... You showed up late to the scene. How the fuck would you know what actually happened?" His eyes were smothered in a scary rage that looked almost calm.

"I saw what I saw! How could you?! Because of you, my best friend is going to die!" In a flurry, the brunette hit at his stomach, trying to find an opening.

"Nn!" This time, May actually landed a punch. Paul drew his right foot back before whirling around and connecting with the girl's chest. She flew back and into the wall, choking out saliva due to the force of his kick.

"For the last time, I didn't do anything and she's _not_ going to die." He grumbled, turning and walking down the hall towards the exit. Stopping as he passed the bench outside Dawn's hospital room, Paul turned to Johanna.

"Please call me when they allow visitors." His hands fumbled through his pockets until he pulled out a slip of wrinkled, blank note paper. Paul hesitated, looking at the woman before muttering. "Pen... Please, ma'am."

"O-oh!" Handing him the pen, she watched as he wrote his number down on the paper. He handed both back to her and pulled out his phone. Turning his flash off, he quickly snapped a picture of her hospital room number before shoving it back into his pocket. Footsteps echoed down the hallway and May slumped against the walls as he took his leave.

Johanna took a quick look at the slip of paper before neatly folding it and putting it in her purse. She found herself staring after the young man, neither angry nor disappointed in him. Despite the fact that he had fought with her daughter's friend, the only thing that crossed her mind was, 'What was he to Dawn?'

"Sorry about that guy, Ms. Berlitz." May choked, taking a seat next to her. Once again, the light above the hospital doorway was bright red. Her eyes concentrated on it while awaiting a response.

"It's alright, don't worry about it." Johanna replied quietly, writing a check to attach to the paperwork. Suddenly, Dr. Joyce pushed open the doors and slipped out.

"Is it over?" May took off her bandana and rewrapped it around her left wrist. Dawn's doctor shook his head before walking over and taking the paperwork and money from Johanna. He pushed up his glasses with a hand before sighing and crossing his arms.

"Unfortunately, no. But it's safe to say that she'll be alright for now." Dr. Joyce stood directly in front of the woman and the girl. Pulling a fairly thick-looking packet from his white coat, he scribbled with a pen a note on it with a star. He handed the packet to Johanna and then gave her a blue bottle filled with white pills.

"What is this?" Johanna questioned, eyes skimming over and through the packet.

"That's information on the physical therapy she'll have to attend. Rather than ten visits a month, we'd like to see her every Wednesday and Saturday for an hour and a half." He answered.

"I see... And will visitors be allowed anytime soon?" The woman rolled the bottle of pills between her fingers. Setting it down, she packed her things into her purse with May's brief assistance.

"Dawn is going to be here until next Monday. You can visit her at anytime, but tomorrow you can only visit her after four PM." Dr. Joyce smoothened out his coat. "Alright, Dawn will be in good hands, we're wrapping up the procedure. I suggest you head on home and settle in for the night."

"Yes..." Johanna muttered, watching as he pushed open the doors and re-entered her daughter's hospital room.

"My dad's here to pick me up... Bye, Ms. Berlitz!" May turned and ran down the hall towards the lobby.

Wordlessly, Johanna waited a couple moments before also heading to the lobby.

Meanwhile, Dawn was sitting through the surgery just beyond the doors.

* * *

 **That's it for now!**

 **I'll try to update as soon as possible.**

 **Once again, I encourage you all to check out Survival Of The Fittest!**

 **This chapter was a bit rushed, but I guess the parts with Dawn are supposed to be. If you spot an error, feel free to point it out and I'll fix it as soon as possible.**

 **What have we learned this chapter?**

 **Obviously, Dawn has ALS**

 **Ursula just loves to pick on her**

 **Drew and Gary are 'little fuckers'**

 **Paul is... like on his period or something with dem' mood swings xD  
**

 **Leaf is... studious**

 **May is overprotective and so far hates Paul's guts**

 **This fanfiction will go through Dawn's fifth year and conclude at the end of it.**

 **I don't have much to say other than thank you if you started reading this!**

 **I hope you'll review!**

 **Thanks~!  
**

 **~Bear!**


	2. His Debt?

**Chapter 2 c:!**

 **Thanks to the two who reviewed, made me smile a whole lot ^-^!**

 **Regarding the characters, I can't guarantee that May, Drew, Leaf, and Gary will make many appearances. But you can bet that as long as Dawn is in the hospital, we'll be seeing Dr. Joyce a whole lot. So, sorry, but the main focus for this fanfiction is Ikari.**

 **I really dunno, there may or may not be side stories, implications as we go through. We'll just have to go with the flow, you know? I don't plan on making this fanfiction very long, but then again, Survival of the Fittest was only supposed to be like eight chapters. As long as I still have views and possible reviews for this story, there will be more chapters. (Not to say that I will stop if I don't get any feedback).**

 **Paul may seem a bit OOC, but it's only to get the story rolling. I'll be trying my best to make him seem as Paul as possible. The part where Paul goes into Dawn's debt may seem a bit confusing, if you have any questions about that, I'll gladly clear them up.**

 **I'm sorry if these scenarios don't really seem too realistic, honestly, I'm just trying to get a good plot going. Really, would we get much of a story if Paul just indirectly killed her and moved on with his life? So that clears up another one of my many thoughts going on in my head.**

 **As for Dawn, her personality will be a bit sweet and sour. Gentle and kind as usual, but like every other story, she'll have a bit of an attitude. After all, teenage girls can be very spicy, am I wrong?**

 **Note:! There may or may be some typos in my chapters since I'm used to Dawn having _blue eyes,_ but I decided to change her eye-color to  gold or yellow in this story. Why? I just think it's prettier. I will try my best to catch all of my errors, but if I forget, I'm sorry ^ ^!**

 **Meeh... I was super confident in my writing when I first started, but now I'm starting to slack, oops, haha. Well, let me try again with this chapter. Hopefully I can use this site to improve my writing with every story and every chapter. I really am sorry if my story seems far too rushed.. So regarding both stories, thank you to everyone who has decided to lend me support!**

 **I haven't got much to say, so let's hop right to the story, mkay?**

* * *

 _Disclaimer:*_

I don't own Pokemon

* * *

 _Chapter 2: His Debt?_  
-

Light filtered into the white hospital room as Dawn slowly sat up. She had been told just moments ago by a nurse that she should be expecting visitors soon. Her muscles were a tad bit sore, but overall, she was feeling fine.

Aside from the books resting at the foot of her bed, there was really nothing much to do but stare out the large window to her left. It hadn't been very long since she'd last seen and felt the familiar room and atmosphere of the hospital. A few tears slipped down her face as she realized that she wouldn't be able to go to school a lot with her business in and out of the hospital. In fact, she wouldn't be able to go anywhere or do anything without any assistance.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door of her room. Dawn quickly wiped away her tears with her good left hand as she didn't want her mother to worry about her anymore. Mentally preparing herself for the look of pity she'll soon be receiving, she opened her mouth to speak.

"Come in." She called out smoothing her hair which was a bit ruffled up. Her thin navy blue locks stuck and trailed down her face and shoulders, ending at her mid back. At the moment, her hair was quite irritating as she could only move one arm to adjust it. Strands of blue stuck to her cheeks and arms, tickling them.

Dawn finally stopped fidgeting about as the door slowly opened. A figure which looked far too tall to be her mother stepped into the beams of light coming from the large window. Her lips parted slightly open in surprise as her eyes widened.

"Paul? What are you doing here?" He seemed to be trying not to look awkward as he stood by her bedside. "How did you know when to come?"

"I gave your mom my number and she called me when they started allowing visitors." Paul responded, rubbing the back of his head with a hand. Light pink just barely touched his cheeks as he averted eyes. Dawn tilted her head to the side in confusion, flashing him a questioning look. His expression changed quickly from flushed to irritated. "Would it kill you to have some modesty?"

"What?" Slowly looking down, Dawn noticed that her shirt was partially undone, revealing a bit of her cleavage and pink bra. "Oh!" She turned slightly red as she realized that one of the nurses must have forgotten to button it that morning. Even Dawn herself hadn't noticed it much to her embarassment. Hastily, she moved to fix it with her good hand only to find it extremely difficult to do it with her non-dominant arm. Pursing her lips, she stopped and hesitantly looked up at Paul.

"Jeez." He grumbled, gently turning her and reaching to button up the light blue shirt she was wearing. Upon seeing her nervous and blushing face when he had finished, Paul pulled back and sighed. "You don't have to be embarrassed, it's not like there's anything there."

"W-What? There's something there! I'm not completely flat." Dawn childishly stuck her tongue out at him before leaning over and smacking the top of his head gently with her left hand.

"Oh? So you're not a AAA cup you're really a AA cup?" What she thought was a teasing smirk appeared on his face. This only made her flush even more.

"Of course not! How would you know about my measurements?" She growled lightly. Calming herself, Dawn loosened her tightened fist before locking eyes with him. "Anyways, why are you even here?"

Paul's smirk disappeared and for a moment, there was complete silence between them. Just as she was about to say something, he rested his left hand on her paralyzed right hand which laid on the bed by her side. Pulling up a chair close to her bed, he sat down and looked right up at her. His hand was large and slightly rough, the complete opposite compared to hers. Even thought she was paralyzed, ALS did not affect any of her six senses. So she could feel the surprisingly comforting warmth that his hand carried along with the slight pressure placed on her hand.

"Well?" Dawn questioned in a more gentle tone. Heat had rose to her face and wouldn't go away no matter how much she mentally begged it to.

"I'm really sorry.. I had no idea about your situation. 'Should've helped you out or something... Ifthere'sanythingyoueverneed, you have.. my word." He lowered his head, though keeping his eyes trained on her. Paul had gone quiet as he spoke quickly the last two parts which Dawn had not caught.

"What was that?" She tilted her head to the side as if to emphasize her confusion once more.

"If you need anything... Just ask.." He was clearly struggling to say it.

"So basically..."

"... You have me in your debt.." Paul finished, jaw tightening. Dawn noticed this and frowned a little.

"Alright, who put you up to this? May? Leaf? My mother?" She sighed and gave him a icy stare.

"Reggie." He took the chance and pinned it all on his brother. Of course, why on earth would he admit to this girl that he willingly put himself in her debt due to his feelings of responsibility and pity? As far as everyone around him knew, Paul Shinji didn't give a crap about anyone and didn't take orders from anyone either. Even he himself was surprised when a feeling of guilt flooded over him that day. But though it was practically his own decision to repay her in some way, Reggie _did_ play a small part part in unknowingly agreeing with his decision.

This is due to the fact that he had arrived just in time to pick up Paul and hear **May's** side to the story. The disappointed look in his older brother's eyes irked Paul off a bit. So then Reggie had told him that if there's anything he could do for Dawn, then he should just suck it up and do it.

"Reggie? Who?" Dawn inquired, snapping him out of his quick thoughts regarding Reggie.

"My idiot brother. Don't worry about him, besides, shouldn't you be happy to have me of all people at your beck and call?" Paul snorted, suddenly turning icy as he removed his hand from hers much to Dawn's slight disappointment.

"Okay, okay, no need to get all pissy." She grumbled, turning her head away from him to look out the window. Of all people, he had to be the first visitor of the day. Annoyance crept up her as she noticed that he was still there after several minutes. "Why aren't you leaving?"

"You're procedures are done, you'll just be here until Monday so that they can keep an eye on you. I figured you'd be bored." He replied with a lazy tone, losing all of the previous menace in his voice and facial expression.

"Until next Monday? How come I wasn't informed of this?" Dawn's mouth nearly dropped open as she let out an exasperated groan. "What am I supposed to do until then? Play with my stupid arm?" She picked up her right arm with her left before dropping it with a soft thud back on the bed.

"Well what do you want me to do about it?" Paul folded his arms and looked at her with a raised eyebrow and a grunt. Dawn paused for a moment to think before her entire face brightened up with an idea.

"The longer I stay, the more money my mother will be charged." Her reply came out a mere whisper.

"So?" He muttered.

"So, my mother is single and working really hard to make money for me... Really, my stay is more about the money than the actual health and care for me." She reasoned.

"So exactly what do you want me to do?" Paul growled, practically begging her through both his tone and eyes for her to get to the point.

"You're going to help me sign out." Dawn replied, face glowing. Her left hand index finger pointed over to the corner of the room where her wheel chair sat, untouched.

"...You're going against the hospital's medical advice. What will your mother do to me if you die?" He stared at her with a sigh. She was certainly more stubborn than any other female he had met aside from her friends. Her eyes were full of certainty and excitement to leave the hospital once more.

"I won't die, you'll be with me." Dawn laughed as if it was a joke.

"Who says I will?" Paul snorted, standing up and brushing off his pants.

"Well, you just said that Reggie placed you in my debt, I have to have an escort with me at all times, and you are currently the only one here." A smug look appeared on her face as he listened.

"Forget it, I'm not helping you escape." He shook his head.

"Debt, Paul, debt. Reggie would want you to do this for me." Dawn hesitated before mumbling. She wasn't really certain about whether or not she should actually take advantage of Paul. However, it was fine if the tasks she requested were small, right? After all, he did almost kill her.

"Fine. But if you die, neither the hospital nor me will be held accountable." He scowled before looking back at her with a skeptical look on his face. "So how are you going to get to your wheelchair? You can't move your legs, right?"

"Carry me." Her reply came simply.

"All the way across the room? You're probably as heavy as an elephant." Paul shook his head with a brief smirk. But he knew that Dawn had to be anything but overweight, in fact, her body structure was so petite, it resembled a fragile doll. She looked especially breakable in her hospital bed with her useless limbs.

"Excuse me?!" Giving him the reaction he wanted, Dawn flailed her left arm about in rage. "I probably weigh less then that girl with the bitch personality you usually hang around!" He certainly knew how to piss a woman off.

"Whatever." The boy muffled a laugh before retrieving the wheelchair and positioning it at her bedside. Without her consent, he picked her up, greatly surprising her.

"What are you doing?" Dawn cried, clearly awkward and uncomfortable as his hands were placed around her waist.

"Exactly what it looks like." Paul huffed, dropping the small girl in her wheel chair. Even though the long blue hospital gown covered her flesh, he could still tell that she was about as slim as she looked. Females were far softer then he imagined too.

"Ow!" She winced upon impact receiving partial impact with the armrests on the chair. "I'm paralyzed, but I can still feel pain." Dawn whimpered, beginning to adjust her right arm into her lap with her left.

"Sorry." He grumbled, light-heartedly before grabbing her left leg and swinging it over the side of the wheelchair.

"You're honestly not careful enough." Dawn rolled her eyes with a sigh. "Alright, roll me to the lobby, please."

The hallway seemed almost empty. However it was certainly more pleasant during the day rather than in the evening or early morning. She was happy to hear the familiar soft noises of her wheelchair being pushed.

"So should I call your mom and have her come pick you up?" Paul questioned after they were only yards away from the doors to the lobby. Honestly, Dawn was surprised that he had even asked for her consent. Putting a finger to her lips, she began to think a little bit.

"Mm.. No." She shook her head as he opened the door and rolled her up to the counter where she was given some forms to fill out. The forms said that she was leaving the hospital of her own free will and knew that what she was doing went against medical advice. Everything that Paul mentioned earlier was there, much to her surprise.

It was a bit hard to fill everything out and sign with her left hand, but fortunately, her new signature was legible and her form was just barely accepted. As she turned and nodded to Paul to wheel her out the door, the woman at the front desk quickly stopped her.

"Are you certain you want to sign out? Apparently you're supposed to be here for six more days." Her eyebrows furrowed together with worry. Paul said nothing, deciding to let her handle this alone. "If anything happens to you, we will not be held responsible."

"I'm alright, I have an escort and a cellphone. Besides, I'm done with medical procedures for now. I was only here to be examined." Dawn shrugged, smiling at the woman who simply sighed and nodded, deciding not to fight her on it. Once they were out the door and in the parking lot on the way to Paul's car, the boy opened his mouth to speak after thinking carefully about what to say.

"You just want me to take you out and downtown? Why?" He mumbled, stopping just inches away from a black Ford Escape. Paul listened for her response while opening up the back and putting the seats down for her wheel chair.

"I haven't been downtown in several years and I'd like to see what it looks like now." She replied, lifting her left arm and watching as the rest of his limbs went limp as Paul lifted her up. The boy carried her with ease over to the front seat of his car where she pulled open the door and was set down inside.

"But it's the middle of February.. There's probably still going to be old Valentines Decorations and leftover junk up..." Valentines Day was the one holiday that Paul despised most. Couples frolicked about, publicly showing off their affections for each other. This year he had just barely made it through without being mauled by the girls at school by simply skipping for the entire week. "Do you honestly want to look at all that junk?"

"It's not junk. Valentines Day is my favorite." Dawn frowned a little bit as he finished loading her wheelchair into the car with a slam of the trunk. It wasn't long until Paul had climbed into the driver's seat, jammed his keys in, and started up the engine.

"I don't want to go look at all that stuff again." He growled, giving her a stern icy glare. The girl didn't respond, only whipping out a phone with her good hand and beginning to text someone. Her case was white, silver, and pink, suiting her. Paul found himself looking over her shoulder in a matter of seconds. However she quickly pulled away from him, returning the glare with a blank stare.

"Do you mind?" Dawn sighed, now holding her phone close to her chest.

"Who were you talking to?" Paul inquired.

"Does it really matter?" She groaned. By now she would've been tapping her foot impatiently, but unfortunately, she couldn't move it. "Are we going to leave?"

"I'm not going anywhere until you tell me. If you don't tell me I'll just assume you have a boyfriend and are acting all lovey with him." He snorted, tapping the steering wheel.

"So what if I have a boyfriend? It isn't really your business." Earlier May had texted her a rant about how Paul was cocky and popular at school. Although May's name was just as well-known, she also raged about Drew and Gary. So her next words came out without thought. "Why would someone as popular as you be concerned with me?"

Paul looked surprised. There was no menace to her voice, it came out as a simple question. But, instead of bothering, he took the chance to snatch her phone out of her hands.

"Relieved to see that I was talking to my mom and not my boyfriend?" Dawn teased, looking pleased with herself as his eyes skimmed over the screen.

"... You said I was taking you downtown when I already said we weren't going?" An exasperated sigh came from him as he tossed her phone onto her lap.

"Well, actually if you scroll up I said we were dropping by my house first." She shrugged her shoulder, giving him a small smile.

"And why the hell would we do that?" He scowled yet again. "I don't even know where you live."

"You seriously want me to go out in this hospital gown? And not to worry, my mom said she just sent you directions." Dawn yawned, waiting for him to pull out.

"Jeez... Alright, but I'm not helping you get dressed." Paul groaned, pulling out his phone before letting his eyes trail over the directions. It had a black and silver color making it stick out in the light coming through the car windows. After a couple seconds, he put his phone down, leaving it on.

"I-I didn't ask you to! My mom will be there." Her face flushed as he began to pull out and quickly move onto the main road after several more moments.

There were many turns and stoplights so there were a couple minutes where his turn signal clicked for what seemed like hours. The car went, buildings passed, sidewalks flew by, and his car frequently stopped as they went along. Car rides seemed a whole lot longer in silence. She was about to fall asleep before Paul's voice coming out randomly startled her back wide awake.

"Do you just let everyone touch you?" His eyes were locked on the road but his voice clearly directed it to her.

"What do you mean?" Dawn tilted her head to the side once more to emphasize confusion and curiosity.

"I mean, I just barged into your room practically a stranger to you, talked to you for only an hour, and so then you demand that I pick you up, help you dress, and be your escort? If anyone else had come before me would you have asked them to do the same stuff?" Paul spoke quickly at first but began to slow down in the middle of what he was saying. It was as if he wasn't used to speaking so much in one period.

"Yeah." She spoke as if the answer was right there causing him to nearly stop the car. It jerked quickly before he regained his composure and stepped on the gas pedal once more. "Whoa! What's wrong?"

"Of course you'd let your boyfriend touch you but what if it had been a random man?" He frowned, quickly glancing at her before stopping at a red light and crossing his arms.

"Wait- who said I had a boyfriend?!" Dawn's eyebrows furrowed together as a skeptical look spread over her face.

"You did!" Paul spoke rather gruffly, staring at her with dull black eyes.

"I said that _if_ I had a boyfriend it wouldn't be any of your business and the other thing was just a joke!" The girl frowned right back at him, trying to give him the same cold look. However it wasn't even a minute before she calmed and backed down. "And I wouldn't have let a random person touch me, I'm not a slut, Paul. There's just no one I know other then you who's male and would visit me in the hospital."

"I was a random person." He pointed out, raising an eyebrow before stepping on the gas as the light turned green.

"That's not true, I've known about you since _that_ day." She rolled her left shoulder.

"Oh, so you automatically trust people who almost kill you?" His face was stone cold again.

"You... Did almost kill me." Dawn realized, laughing a little bit.

"You just realized that?" Both of his eyebrows were raised now, but his eyes remain focused on the road in front of them.

"Sort of.. But it was an accident. And I know that you tried to help me out." Once again, she casually brushed the whole scenario off like dust.

"I see.. I wonder about you." Paul laughed a little bit, shoulders shaking back and forth as he made a sharp turn. "Does this neighborhood look familiar?"

"Mm." Nodding in response, Dawn played with the hem of her hospital gown. She pointed to her right. "Over there."

Wordlessly, he made another sharp turn and into her driveway before shutting off his car and unbuckling his seatbelt. Dawn took off her seatbelt and opened the car door, waiting for Paul to help her. He said nothing as he stepped out, unloaded her wheelchair, and picked her up once more causing her to squeal as it still surprised her. Ignoring her, he set her down. Once she was seated in her wheelchair, the boy began to push her up the ramp leading to her front door.

"You're more reliable then I thought. It's like you've done this before." Dawn commented, beginning to hum as he rang the doorbell and knocked on the door with a fist.

"I have." Paul rolled his eyes. He looked impatient, as if he was trying to get this over with as soon as possible.

"When?" The girl inquired, now a bit curious.

"Don't worry about it." He replied quickly and quietly. "Hello." His low grunt came as the door opened to reveal a familiar woman whom he recognized to be her mother.

"Ah, hello! Come in, will you?" Johanna reached and took the handles of Dawn's wheelchair away from Paul, directing her daughter towards the living room. Following in pursuit, Paul crossed his arms and sat down on a tan couch which was right next to Dawn.

Light blue and gray flower wallpaper coated the walls adding on to the interesting atmosphere. A mahogany brown coffee table sat in the middle of the room in front of a average sized flat screen TV in front of it hanging on the wall over a pearl white fireplace. Several end tables were by the sides of couch along with a lamp. Most of the lighting however, was coming from the bright LED lights in the ceiling. It looked like a fairly nice place for people struggling and working hard to earn money.

"I'm afraid I haven't properly met you. I'm Johanna, Dawn's mother as you can tell." Johanna caught his attention as she set down a glass of water for him.

"Oh.. Paul Shinji." Very uncomfortable, he took Johanna's outstretched hand and shook it before retreating his hand to his side. The two stared at each other uncomfortably for a good minute until finally the girl's mother spoke up.

"How long have you been dating my daughter?" Johanna tried her best to smile without looking too tense. After all, this was the strange boy who had kicked her daughter's friend, May hard in the chest _that_ day.

"Dating?" Paul almost snorted but quickly held it back as not to be rude to the adult woman.

"M-Mama, no!" Dawn felt heat rise to her face as she flailed her left arm around frantically. Her suddenly childish behavior didn't surprise Paul but he raised an eyebrow as she referred to her mother as, 'mama'. Deciding not to comment rudely or tease her about it as he normally would anyone, he kept his mouth shut in respect for Johanna.

"Oh? So you're just friends?" Her mother's eyebrows went up. Upon receiving a nod, the woman sighed and began walking up stairs to get her daughter's clothes. Although this boy seemed a bit too cold and bitter for her liking, it didn't seem like anyone else would step into Dawn's life anytime soon so it was a bit disappointing.

"Hey Paul.." Dawn murmured as soon as Johanna disappeared up the staircase.

"Hn?" He turned to her, arms still crossed with a stiff expression still evident.

"Did something happen between you and my mom or have you always been this awkward around adults?" She fidgeted in her wheelchair before reaching over and poking Paul's face gently in an attempt get him to relax a little.

"Nothing happened and I am not awkward around adults." The girl squeaked as he grabbed her wrist and pushed Dawn's own hand into her face.

"You don't have to be mean about it." Dawn lightly punched him with her left hand.

"I'm not being mean, you're just irritating." He mumbled quietly as Johanna returned with a small armful of clothes.

"Here, let me help you." Johanna walked over to her daughter and smiled before beginning to unbutton Dawn's hospital gown. Looking over her mother's shoulder, she locked eyes with Paul before he muffled another chuckle and stood up. She watched as he moved to the other side of the room and turned around.

"And you know that we'll be taking a little visit downtown?" Excited, Dawn's eyes glistened as she looked up at her mother. Her gown was slid off and a black tank top along with a light pink shirt was pulled on her. She then raised her left arm as her mother began to put a thin light gray hoodie on her. Johanna quickly switched her panties with clean ones before dressing her in a navy blue skirt. The woman quickly finished by slipping long black socks on her and putting her shoes back on her feet.

"Yes." Her mother planted a kiss on her forehead before stepping back. "All set."

"I feel bad making you do this everyday." Dawn pursed her lips, looking down at her hands which her mother had placed neatly in her lap.

"Don't feel bad, I love you." Johanna replied, caressing her face before turning to walk into the kitchen. However she turned back around and leaned in close to her ear. "But I wouldn't have to dress you everyday if you just got a boyfriend already."

"No." Her dark blue hair swayed from side to side as she let the blush on her face fade away. "I'm going to die, right? That's why you sometimes look at me like that, right?"

"W-What? Who told you that? May? Leaf?" Even though she needed someone to tell Dawn, Johanna suddenly felt horrified as her daughter spoke. Fear rolled through the woman.

"Nobody, I figured it out on my own." She rolled her left shoulder and stretched her arm. By now, the two had Paul's attention as they weren't speaking as quietly as they thought they were. A look pleading for his patience crossed her face as she looked over her mother's shoulder once more. However, he simply stared blankly back at her with that same scowl planted on his face.

"I-I see... Now what does dying have to do with you falling in love and dating anybody?" Furrowing her eyebrows together, her mother gave her a slightly worried look.

"The feeling wouldn't be mutual. The guy would probably be doing it out of pity. Either that or if he actually liked me then I'd be a bad person making someone love me only to leave right away. How much time do I have left? A year?" Dawn's expression was blank with a touch of boredom due to the subject. For a split second it was as if she could no longer feel any emotion, however that thought was quickly dismissed from both Paul and Johanna's minds as she smiled gently up at her mother.

"Y-You... W-Where did you hear..?" Speechless, Johanna struggled to speak, mouth gaping. It was getting harder and harder to keep her composure as her daughter spurted the words out without much care.

"That night in my hospital room when I was diagnosed a couple years back, I wasn't fully asleep. Some doctors came in to examine me before talking about the life expectancy for victims of ALS. You may have thought that I didn't know about it, but I've sort of been counting down." Dawn shrugged, brushing a lock of her hair out of her face with her good hand.

"Counting down?! Dear child, you've been counting down the days before your death?!" Several tears began to streak her mother's face causing a sudden wave of regret for saying such things to flood over Dawn. Johanna's fists clenched tightly as she moved to sit down on the couch next to Dawn's wheelchair. It was all too much to hear in one period of time.

"I'm sorry." She muttered quietly.

"You're sorry?! Dawn, I already lost your father and I'm going to lose you very soon! But how can someone as young and potential as you accept your death so easily?! Do you have any idea how miserable I'll be without you?! How can you say such things?! How can you just wait?! How can you-" Johanna cut herself off with a sob. It pained Dawn to watch as her mother buried her head in her hands and cried.

"I don't know... I haven't really had much of a life anyways." Her eyes tried to look anywhere but at her sobbing mother and Paul who was in the corner, as shocked as a deer in headlights. It seemed as if he didn't really know how to react at the moment. Everyday for the past few years she had been forced to miss school to be carried in and out of the hospital. Each day was filled with hours of both physical and mental therapy. Dawn was not depressed, she had never been, but there were many times when someone was sent in to talk to her about the meaning of life.

She didn't mind the lectures at first, but they got tiring after a while. As for her physical therapy, keeping her muscles in shape was only to be required. Although, it's not like she'll ever be able to walk around again, Dawn knew that much. There was really no major need for her to study and yet she still loved attending school despite the treatment she was given. Fear of the hospital, the sirens, and the stretcher had disappeared long ago and life was almost normal with these things.

Of course, she had received a whole lot of love from both of her parents in her earlier years. But the minute Dawn began to show signs of growing sick, he father left and her mother seemed to grow into an almost hidden depression. She had everything she could've ever asked for, but something just wasn't right. Dawn knew she'd never be able to graduate, get married, start a family, or even meet her father again. She knew all of those things were impossible.

That kind of sheltered life.

Knowing your deadline, your expected death.

Knowing that's it's going to end with the blink of an eye.

That's not a good, well-lived life, right?

"Which is why you should be wanting more! Please!" A loud, long wail came from her mother as she completely lost herself emotionally. Her jaw tightened in frustration and blood trickled from her lip as she had bitten it too hard.

"I..." Dawn started before getting abruptly interrupted.

"It's getting dark out, let's go, I don't have time after school tomorrow." Paul's rough voice came out as he grabbed ahold of Dawn's wheelchair and began to roll her out the door. However just as he himself was about to exit, he turned to Johanna who was staring wide-eyed at him with a tear-soaked face. "Miss, I suggest you use the time to calm down."

His exit was a bit rushed and rude. Dawn couldn't believe that he had actually left a bawling woman alone without a second thought. Although perhaps he was thinking more of her then of himself or her mother. Dawn didn't even have time to process what was happening.

Without another word, Paul shut the door behind him. He rolled Dawn to the passenger seat before picking her up and setting her down, refusing to look her in the eyes. Just as she was about to say something, the boy shut the door and went to pack her wheelchair into his raven-black car. Moving quickly, he finished up and got into the car, starting the engine.

"Paul.. Are you ma-"

"Fuck yeah I'm mad." He snapped bitterly, pulling out of the driveway and beginning to drive.

"Why..?" Dawn murmured, risking the question. She cringed from both the cold and fear of his response.

"You just.. I don't even know why, okay?! Maybe it's because you're giving up on everything because you know what your fate will be or maybe it's because you don't understand how much you're worth. I don't fucking know. This is all very confusing." His jaw tightened and his teeth were bared, grit in frustration that neither understood very well. "Damn it!" Paul shouted loudly as the car suddenly jerked to a halt. "Watch where the hell you're fucking going, you son of a bitch!" Slamming his fist onto the car horn, he yelled as a snow-white truck came out of nowhere and flew right in front of them.

"That.. was close.." Dawn breathed, hearing her own rapidly beating heartbeat.

"You think?" After getting most of his questionable anger out by beating his steering wheel and swearing loudly, it seemed as if Paul had calmed down quite a bit. "See? You do appreciate your life." He mumbled after a moment or two. Although he still looked a bit tense as they drove, only getting tenser and more awkward every time they stopped at a light.

"What makes you say that..?" She murmured in response, just as silent as he was.

"If you didn't you wouldn't have been on edge after that car passed." Paul replied with a tone that just spoke, 'it's as simple as that'.

"I never really said I didn't appreciate my life.." Dawn sighed, staring blankly out the window at the green and gray blurs of passing trees and sidewalks.

"Says the one who just told her mother that she, 'Hasn't had much of a life anyways' right to her face." The boy laughed light-heartedly, bringing his foot down on the gas once the red light turned a comforting green. His car jerked before entering the downtown area where Paul began to look around, searching for a parking spot.

"A-Ah.. Maybe I said that-"

"Without thinking? I don't doubt that." He cut her off before screeching to a halt before looking back and pulling out of the alley he had just entered.

"Why do you even care? Of all people, I would've never expected _you_ to butt into my business!" Dawn could feel the ice in her blood begin to heat up and boil. This guy hadn't even known her for a day and yet he was already acting like a father or something.

"You're the one who dragged me into your issues with your own two hands. Oh wait- one hand." Paul spat, getting more fed up by the minute.

"You did not just-!" Her lips pursed.

"You bet I did." His eyes paid her no attention.

"Alright. Then my one hand won't point out the parking spot that you passed a couple seconds ago." Dawn rolled her eyes, bringing her one good arm to her chest.

"What the- God damn it, Dawn!" He nearly banged his head on the steering wheel in frustration. Both of their bodies could feel the blood boiling and the tension slowly getting to a breaking point. Making a sharp turn, he whirled the car around, going back around to the said parking spot.

"Bleeh." She stuck her tongue out at him.

Once more, the tires of Paul's coal black car screamed as he parked as quickly as possible. The boy opened his door with ease before slamming it shut without a word. He dragged her wheelchair out of the back once more before nearly shoving her in it. At the moment, he was nowhere close to being gentle as he handled her.

A yelp escaped Dawn's lips as she was thrown into her chair before being rolled onto the sidewalk. With a click and a short honking noise, he locked his car before turning to her and walking. Cold, bitter wind bit at her exposed flesh as Paul began to walk her downtown.

"... Do you like what you see?" Paul muttered after a couple silent minutes of walking. She looked up at him for a brief second. He looked down at her with dull, black eyes as dark as his Ford Escape. Even so, her eyes sparkled with delight, going along with the sudden change in mood. Slowly, Dawn could feel her simmering blood cool her into relaxation as the familiar sounds of rolling wheels and passing cars entered her ears.

"It's overwhelming." All around her, there were pink and white lights, glowing brightly in the darkening sky. It was about six thirty when they had left her house so street lamps lit up along with other lights in shop windows. Trying to forget the conversation she had with her mother during that time, Dawn took another look around. There were signs telling of Valentines Day sales and items of all sorts decorated with flashy colors and many hearts.

"So you want to go back now?" He let out a grumble before releasing an exasperated sigh.

"No..." Dawn lifted her left hand to the dark evening sky as Paul pushed her in the wheelchair. Small and familiarly cold white specks touched her hand which grasped upwards. Snow. It was beginning to snow gently, white powder dashing and dotting the sky. Several clouds lay out in the almost black sky as stars slowly began to appear. In the winter time things always got dark quickly. Everything was perfect and beautiful. "I want to stay here forever."

Paul said nothing else in response, only shuddering slightly due to the cold. He stopped for a moment, leaning over to look her in the eye. "Are you cold?"

"A little bit, but don't worry, I have a scarf. Can you help me put it on?" She pointed to the black bag strapped to her wheelchair. Despite his bored, sort of angry looking facial expression, his words were gentle. With the usual silence, Paul bent over, unzipping her bag before digging through it to find her scarf. Soon, he pulled out a long, strawberry pink scarf made out of a soft and very smooth fabric.

"There's a nearby cafe not far from here. We'll stop in there for a bit to kill some time. I have a question or two for you.." Yet another exasperated sigh passed through his lips as he leaned over the wheelchair and wrapped her scarf slowly and with care around her neck. Her hand reached for his as he began to pull away. Flashing her a questioning look, Paul's eyebrows raised before dropping as a gust of wind hit them.

"You're really gentle.. At least, with me you are." Dawn was a little bit awkward as she spoke, still trying to forget the earlier events.

"Your point is?" He inquired impatiently.

"I've heard and sort of... seen how you act around others. Why are you different with me, someone who is pretty much a stranger to you? You're not pitying me, are you?" Piercing golden eyes sparkled up at him. There were cars passing by them, headlights filling his vision for brief moments, honking, and Paul could feel nothing much but the bitter wind and the cold handles of the wheelchair. Almost no people walked past them and anyone who did was on the other side of the street. It was almost if they had the entire downtown to themselves, aside from the passing cars.

"You think too much." Paul rolled his eyes and laughed light-heartedly before beginning to push her wheelchair to the intersection. He looked up, not bothering to look back down to Dawn for a reply. She stayed quiet as the streetlights turned red enabling them to move across the crosswalk.

Dawn nestled a bit further into her scarf as Paul began to roll her with a faster pace than before. Bitter wind nipped at her open skin and loosened the locks of hair which were once stuck to the sides of her face. Although it didn't last long as before she knew it, Paul was pushing her through two brown and white doors to the cafe once they had crossed.

It was a bright little bistro, a warm and friendly feeling emerging from her chest as she took a look around. Shining polished burgundy wood tables were filled with people speaking at an average volume and pink and red heart shaped lights were strung around the ceiling, draping down before shooting back up to a hook. The lighting was a bit dull setting off a very laid-back atmosphere.

Looking down, Dawn could see the cream colored wooden flooring. Everything around her was about as fresh as it looked. Modern day hit music played softly from black speakers installed in the corners of every maroon coated wall. It almost had the general look of a bar, however it was a bit less crowded, the talking and laughing of the people were quieter, and the cafe definitely had less alcohol.

"We're 'sorta full right now, sorry."

A bored voice caused Dawn to snap her head upwards. There in front of both her and Paul stood a slender man with his eyes glued to a black and milky-white clipboard. His hair was fiery and spiked up, highly resembling the flame of a fire. On his body he wore a light gray dress-shirt accompanied by a jet-black vest with shimmering gold buttons and a blood-red bow tie. He looked both irritated and tired as if he really didn't want to be working. Dawn could see it in his almost red brown eyes which refused to look up.

"Dumb-ass, you've never been too busy for me." Paul snorted, a smirk appearing on his face.

"What the hell?! You 'wanna go-" The man's head snapped upwards, eyes burning before slowly calming down as he realized who he had just seen. "Paul?"

"Chili, why are you here?" Raising an eyebrow, the plum head leaned on the wall to his right.

"... I 'kinda had a falling out with Cress and Cilan. Cress is at the gym, Cilan disappeared somewhere, and I left Unova to open up my own cafe. But, I 'sorta just got here so I decided to start by workin' here, you know?" Chili shrugged, setting his clipboard down. Now he was returning Paul's smirk, boredom clearly gone now.

"Hnn... So you're not battling anymore?" A skeptical look replaced Paul's smirk as he sighed. It was clear that the two had some sort of history making them friends. In all honesty, Dawn didn't think that Paul knew someone who could really put up with his behavior.

"Not for now, at least. You know the new system. It's such a hassle." He groaned before laughing in response.

"New system..?" Dawn spoke up with question in her voice.

"You didn't know? A couple years back there was a new law set stating that unless you filled out a crap ton of paperwork, you couldn't own a pokemon for any reason. It's still active and if you end up becoming a trainer you have to fill out another load of stuff just to get a card." Dawn mentally smacked herself for not knowing something so important. In fact, with her many health issues, she had pretty much somehow forgotten about the existence of pokemon. Chili stretched before putting his hands behind his head, resting them on his neck. "By the way, Paul, who's this lil' cutie in the wheelchair? A girlfriend?"

"No, just a friend, and what are you, some sort of pedophile?" Paul shook his head, smacking the back of his head as Chili tried to take Dawn's paralyzed right hand. For a brief moment, her breath hitched. Up until now, she was only comfortable with her friends, mother, or Paul touching the parts of her body she could not control. Thankfully, Paul must've noticed her extreme unease.

"Ouch! You know I'm kiddin'. I don't play around with little girls, it's against my morals." His laugh was cheerful and about as fresh as the cafe they were standing in, one of those laughs that could make you fall in love right away. But, unfortunately, he seemed a bit too old and Dawn was sure she wasn't in the mood to go desperately searching for love. "And if you haven't noticed, I'm only twenty-two." The fiery redhead added.

"Mkay then.. You want to go find us a seat?" Paul changed the subject of the conversation back, removing himself from the wall and beginning to tap the handles of Dawn's wheelchair.

"Ehh? But it's so much work.." Chili mumbled, picking up his clipboard again and flipping through a few pages. Ignoring Paul's mutters about how lazy he could be, the redhead's eyes flickered around the room before landing to the left. "You're in luck, two of my co-workers just finished clearing out the booth by the big window over there."

"Thanks.." Muttering as silently as possible, Paul pushed her wheelchair after Chili. Suddenly, she felt the said young man's eyes on her.

"Will she be alright? I don't think we can fit her chair in there." He frowned a bit, crossing his arms.

"It's fine." Paul replied quickly, picking her up without a warning.

"H-hey! What are you doing in public?!" Dawn almost screamed, flailing her arm a little. It was then when she was reminded of how much larger he was compared to her. He simply grabbed her and set her in the booth as gently as possible like she was some sort of breakable doll. A light blush rose to her face as she felt him readjust the position of her legs and right arm.

"Helping you, you heard what he said." Grunting, he set her wheelchair as close to the side of the booth as possible in an attempt not to leave it in the way of people moving in and out.

"Well, you could've told me. Don't just casually grab me, I'll think you're some weird guy trying to feel me up." She whispered the last part, returning his dull glare.

"How many 'weird guys' would feel you up with a waiter standing right there?" Paul almost laughed, pointing his finger at Chili who had a rather amused look on his face.

"I- I don't know! There are some pretty strange guys out there!" Dawn could feel the heat rise to her face as she watched a few of the people around her flicker their gazes over to them.

"Look, as I said before, nobody is going to grope you. There's pretty much nothing to-" He was cut off when she reached over and hit him as hard as she could with her left hand. They were beginning to attract unwanted attention and like hell Dawn would want everyone in the cafe to know how small her breasts were. The heat she felt in her face burned like a hot desert.

"As amusing as this is, I'm 'gonna have to break apart this little conversation. Luckily I'll be your waiter so you and Paul can talk about your three sizes as much as you want. Just don't disturb the others, please." Chili directed the last part to Dawn who's pale skin had suddenly turned about as red as the man's hair.

"Jeez.." Not feeling like starting up another awkward conversation, Dawn let Chili's comment slide. Paul simply rolled his eyes before sliding into the seat of the booth right across from her.

"Can I start you two off with a drink or somethin'? On the house, call it a present from me to you." The man winked at Paul before pulling a small black book and a pen out of his pockets.

"Water, please." Dawn murmured.

"That's it? You know we have beer if you're interested. We've got almost every brand of beer and wine you can think of. Maybe some liq-?" Chili raised an eyebrow before stopping after receiving a glare from Paul.

"We're both underage, don't bother her about it. Consider that before trying to make a sale." His scowl quickly turned into a smirk though.

"Alright, alright, water it is. Paul?" Laughing, he quickly jotted it down before looking over at him.

"You know what I want." He grunted.

"I'll take a guess since it's been a while. Black coffee?" Once again, the redhead's eyebrows were raised high.

"Mm." Paul nodded, fidgeting with the menu placed in front of him on the burgundy table. The placemats were made of what appeared to be a soft wood about as light brown as the creamy boards on the wood floor.

"Seriously? It's only a matter of time until you become as bitter as the coffee." Chili grinned, writing it down before shutting his tiny book closed with a quick snap.

"Excuse me, manager? Yeah, your employee isn't treating me with respect~." In response to that, Paul jokingly raised his hand in the air, speaking with in a lazy tone before lowering it.

"Aye, aye, Paul, cut that out, you know I was just kiddin'!" He flailed his arms a bit before stopping and running his hands through his flame-like hair. The young man nodded before fleeing into the kitchen. But, not before flashing Paul a quick grin.

"That was surprising." Dawn smiled softly once Paul's friend had left.

"What?" With another grumble, he leaned back into his seat, setting down the menu.

"I mean I never would've thought you'd have a friend like that. I didn't think you were one to joke either." She shook her head, leaning forward onto the table. Navy blue locks of hair spilled like a waterfall onto the table. Dawn had noticed how clean the employees kept the place, everything seemed to be sparkling every time she looked around. The booth was the same color as the table, matching it, but the seats were either black or that familiar maroon color.

Never in her life had she seen so much brown and red put all together. Outside the window, Dawn could see the passing cars, lighting up the evening with the falling snow. Something about everything she'd seen today was simply beautiful in ways one could not completely describe.

"Chili is... something." Once more, Paul's eyes rolled around in his head as to emphasize how strange his friend could be.

"I see.. Well, now that we're sitting down, you had some questions for me?" Dawn rested both of her arms on the table before placing her head on them.

"...Yeah." Paul's relaxed tone suddenly became a bit stiff along with his posture. He sat upwards, rubbing his temples as if trying to process a thought or think. "The first one is, how on earth can you trust me? I literally walk into your hospital room, insult you several times, and you just decide to get into my car just because I said I'd take you out and around town? What are you, a child being lured by candy?"

"I didn't just randomly decide to trust you. You knew I had my phone right? I had a whole conversation with my mom about who you were thinking about Reggie. Obviously you didn't notice that I was texting under my sheets. I was also ready with a buzzer which is always right by my hand to call in a nurse at any time." Dawn replied, frowning a little bit. "If you want to know why I trust you, then why don't you ask my mother? After all, she's the one that told me you were a good person."

"And how exactly did you expect me to notice all that? Why the hell would she tell you I'm a good person? I hardly know her." Paul growled, crossing his arms.

"How would I know?! She's unpredictable!" Dawn sighed. "Next question, please!"

"Why won't you go out with anyone? Haven't you ever dated anyone? Do you really want to spend the last year of your life alone?" Paul quickly calmed himself before bombarding her with questions in his usual bored, dull tone.

"That's more than one question.." She pursed her lips, the current subject setting her on the edge.

"Just answer them." Tapping his finger on the table, Paul impatiently awaited her replies. With another sigh, Dawn rubbed her eye with her left hand before placing it atop her motionless right arm. She gave it a squeeze before opening her mouth.

"You already heard why I won't go out with anyone and I will not repeat it. I did date somebody. And no, I don't want to spend the last year of my life alone, which is why I have Leaf and May." Dawn tried speaking as quickly as possible, but she found herself slowing down after responding to his second question.

"You dated someone? Why aren't you still going out?" As much as Paul hated questions, he found that for some reason he was asking a whole lot. And for another completely odd reason, he couldn't stop his curiosity. It was really beginning to irk him off.

"Yes, I dated someone... I don't want to talk about him." Biting her lip, her voice quieted. For a moment the only sounds were that of the music and the talking of the other costumers. Just as Paul was about to say something, a familiar voice sounded out.

"I come bringin' bitter black coffee and water from the crystal mountains in the Kalos region!" Chili bellowed, rushing out and setting a tall glass and a white mug on the table in front of them.

"Crystal mountains in the Kalos?" Dawn held back a laugh, going along with the sudden change in atmosphere. This man really did know how to liven things up, even if he did have a bit of a temper.

"Well... Not really, I just 'sorta made that up. But it was believable, right?" He let out a sheepish laugh, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Nope. The closest thing to that would be Mt. Silver, but there's no water." Paul snorted. Dawn swore that she he had smiled for a second.

"Alright, whatever. At least you know a lot, that's good. 'Means you're goin' to school and stuff." Brushing off his vest, Chili whipped out his small booklet and pen. "Anyways, what can I get you guys to eat?"

"...I'm not really hungry." Muttering, Paul crossed his arms before looking over to Dawn. "She probably wants something small though.."

"What- How'd you know?" Dawn's eyes lit up with amusement as a soft smile very familiar to Paul graced her lips.

"You're so thin I didn't think your appetite was very big." He replied as if it was simple. Although it meant a lot to Dawn that he noticed, there were times when she found his observations creepy. The day has been unbelievably long and somewhat interesting. Even if she wouldn't verbally admit it, the girl knew that things had gotten way more worthwhile since Paul had shown up.

"So?" Chili began to tap his foot impatiently.

"Oh! Let me see.." She quickly picked up the menu and flipped to the back where the deserts section was. Swiftly, her eyes skimmed over the page before landing on something which caught her attention with ease. "This, please!"

Her left finger pointed to the picture. It was a slice of cake which was as white as the snow falling to the ground just outside the window. It had pure-white frosting along with what seemed to be whipped cream in the center of it. Carefully lined in that core of whipped cream were neatly placed slices of strawberries. There were also multiple cut strawberries on top arranged to form a bright red flower.

"Hn?" Paul leaned over in his seat to take a look at the image. "Just a strawberry cake?"

"It's not just a strawberry cake, it's delicious." Dawn shrugged before looking up at their waiter.

"Chili, care to get the, ' _lil' cutie'_ her cake?" He also looked at him.

"Jeez. You know how hard it is to serve that at the end of the day? It's gotten really popular lately. I could probably make another one, I guess.." Chili groaned before etching it down on the page in his book.

"You make the cakes?" Surprised, Dawn looked at him skeptically. "And what do you mean it's hard to serve?"

"Yeah, and I'm the best at it..." The redheaded man leaned forward and whispered into her ear. "Don't tell anyone, but I make half of the cakes in the morning and the other half in the afternoon. There's a whole lot of them but they go quickly, especially when students get 'outta school. So maybe some of them aren't the freshest, but anyways, whatever I make is available until they sell out at the end of the day. So I guess you could say it's more like a bakery than a cafe."

"Why'd you whisper it?" She tilted her head to the side in confusion.

"You know, people always expect the freshest foods." Yet another laugh erupted from his chest as he backed away from her. "They really aren't that fresh."

"I see.. If it's too much of a hassle to make another one I'll just choose something else." Dawn moved to look at the menu but Chili stopped her.

"Now, now, missy, just because it's sold out, doesn't mean I can't find another one laying about in the kitchen somewhere." He winked at her before shoving his things in the pockets of his pants once more. "Just a minute, got it?"

Without giving the two the time to react, he made his way towards the kitchen doors before slamming them open and making his big entrance. Dawn swore she heard him announce it to the cooks working. A small giggle passed her lips before stopping after her attention refocused on Paul.

By now, most of the people around them had cleared out. When she asked Paul for the time, he stated that it was almost eight. It really surprised Dawn as he had never been out and about this late with someone. Usually she went out and was home by five thirty.

"So... Anymore _great_ questions?" She spoke up after yet another minute of pure silence.

"Do you... forgive me for the incident that happened _that day_?" He hesitated before speaking slowly.

"Of course I do." Dawn replied as if her answer should've been obvious.

"Why..? I could've killed you." Twiddling his thumbs, Paul looked a bit nervous much to her surprise. The girl had no idea what made people think that someone like him was 'cold-hearted'.

"Paul, I'm going to die anyways. I'd actually prefer dying as soon as possible." Looking down at her useless legs, she frowned.

"Why haven't you?"

"E-Excuse me?"

"... I mean if you want to die early than why don't you just take your own life now..?" At the moment, Paul really tried to ignore how messed up his question sounded.

"I actually considered it multiple times. I honestly believed that change wasn't going to happen for me and that even if it did, it wouldn't happen in less than a week." Dawn's eyebrows furrowed together as she grew tense due to the rather depressing subject.

"' _Believed_ '? What made you change your mind..?" Paul shocked himself. One by one the questions were pouring out of his mouth and he wasn't even thinking out them. He couldn't believe that she was calmly answering his questions. In truth, if someone had asked _him_ this many questions about these types of things, he would've gone berserk on them. Paul was beginning to make himself sick to his stomach. For some reason he wasn't acting as he usually did today.

"Well... Let's just say that I was wrong about change. I just remembered that I kind of have a reason to stick around.. How do I explain it...? My life has gotten.. more interesting since I remembered?" She fidgeted in her seat. Her glance strayed from her legs as she looked up, shoving her left hand in the pocket of her hoodie. vibrant yellow orbs locked with two coal-black eyes for a split second until she averted her gaze and tried to change the subject.

"What did you remember?" He inquired.

"N-Nothing that you need to worry about!" Dawn replied quickly before looking around for Chili who still wasn't there with her cake.

"...Hnn." Decided not to press the subject of matter, Paul shook it from his head. Bringing his mug to his lips, he took a sip of his black coffee, not taking his eyes off of her. This day had been full of a lot of eye rolling, laughs, and talking. It amused him to know that he had broken a record for the amount of words he'd spoken in a single day. Questions were also another thing.

He had also became frustrated when he realized he'd poked more into someone else's business than he intended to.

"Hey, Paul.. I have a question for you.." The girl quietly murmured with a yawn.

"Nn?" Nodding, he indicated that he was listening.

"Why are you willing to do so much for me? You help me move around and do a whole lot of things. Why is that? Didn't you say that we're practically strangers to each other?" Adjusting the pink scarf which was still around her neck, Dawn shifted in her seat.

"You... don't irritate me." Paul grumbled in response.

"That's it? Because back in the car, it didn't look like I didn't irritate you." She huffed, raising an eyebrow.

"... So about your three sizes.."

"Paul!" He was obviously trying to change the subject once more. Irritated, Dawn unconsciously brought her left hand to her chest causing him to laugh light-heartedly. "What?"

"You know that covering your tiny chest isn't going to hide the fact that your as flat as a board." Paul smirked.

"H-Hey! Now you're just being mean!" Dawn exclaimed, heat rising to her face. She wasn't sure if it was due to embarassment or anger. "Chili was just joking when he said you should discuss it!"

"Hn..." His eyes began to skim over her and the serious look on his face was beginning to push her over the edge. Anxiety welled up within her, but she chose not to show it.

"W-What?" Licking her lips, Dawn tried to follow his eyes. Without a warning, he reached forward and hesitantly unzipped her hoodie which she had apparently zipped up without him noticing. It wasn't long until he leaned back into his seat before concluding his thoughts. "Paul?"

"It was a big surprise.. but even though you're really tiny, thin, and pale..."

"Eh?"

"Now that I remember picking you up.. You're curvier than one would suspect." She could see the tease in his eyes. Really, just who was he? One minute he's really cold, angry, or anti-social, and the next he's talkative and nice. Paul confused her as much as she must him.

"My sex appeal isn't something I want to discuss.." Deciding not to let him get the pleasure of angering or embarrassing her, Dawn tried to push away the heat she felt rising to her face and stay calm.

"It's more interesting than most people's." He shrugged, giving up just like that.

"Paul.." She sighed, rubbing her eyes once more with her left hand and yawning.

"You're tired..?" Paul hesitantly mumbled, also calming down.

"Just a bit. Probably because I'm usually sitting around on my butt everyday." A smile appeared on her face as she laughed at the thought. It had been awhile since she'd actually gone out for something other than the hospital or school. And it had been an especially long time since she'd left home with someone other than her mother or friends.

"Hn.." He nodded, looking around for Chili who still wasn't there. "May and Leaf are your friends?"

"Yeah. I think Drew and Gary might be too. If they're friends with those two then they've got to be my friends too, right?" Her reply came lazily and with yet another yawn.

"The two biggest flirts on earth are friends with you?" Paul questioned.

"Flirts?" Dawn questioned right back.

"I'm surprised you haven't noticed. I thought one day at school would've been enough for you to notice." Sipping a bit more of his black coffee, another amused expression swept over his face. For some reason, Dawn found herself staring at him as he drank.

"I guess... Do you like sweets?" She eyed him before brightening up as she caught Chili prancing through the kitchen doors with a plate in his hand through the corner of her eyes.

"Hn..? Why?" He replied with his usual bored tone.

"Greetings, my children! I've prepared you the best lookin' strawberry cake there is~!" Chili shouted, confident grin spread across his face. His expression was almost as fiery as his hair. Dawn couldn't help but notice how his face was practically shining with sweat. Exactly how fast had he worked to prepare a little bit of cake? There weren't many people out there willing to work that hard just for a single person.

"Thanks~!" The girl replied just as cheerfully, giving him a nod of gratitude.

"Sure thing, Lil' Blue." Setting the plate carefully down on the cream colored placemat with a soft tapping sound.

" _Lil' Blue?_ " Paul snorted, sending him a slightly creeped out gaze.

"She's little and she's got some pretty blue hair." Chili explained before leaning forward and taking a lock of Dawn's hair. "Is it natural?" He held it up to his face before grinning and releasing it after seeing her tense up.

"Y-Yeah..." She shifted in her seat, taking the small fork he then handed to her.

"Don't do that, you flame-headed pedophile." A certain plum head laughed slightly.

"I feel a bit offended." The man whined in a dramatic voice.

"You should be." He mumbled in response.

"Well, my shift is almost over. I'll be going now to clean up and gather my things." With an exasperated sigh, the waiter waved before heading off towards the kitchen. However, he stopped halfway before calling out to Paul. "Hey!"

"What is it now?" He grumbled, now having a stare off with him.

"Don't forget to tip me well!" Chili gave him a big, wide toothy grin along with a thumbs up before quickly moving into the kitchen. But, just before he could push open the white doors leading to the kitchen, the young man tripped and fell on his face. This triggered a slightly muffled laugh from Paul.

"That guy..." Turning back to Dawn, Paul sighed, smirking to himself a little.

"Your friend sure is something." Also smiling, Dawn awkwardly moved the fork between the fingers on her left hand. Paul raised an eyebrow to this, staying quiet as he watched her struggle to adjust her hand. It was clear that her right hand was her dominant hand, and that clearly didn't help her situation.

In the background, the music continued to play, however it was more audible now that the cafe had begun to clear out. Every so often there was someone who laughed loudly or someone who raised their voice to the point where everyone turned their heads. Meanwhile, Dawn was still working on her fork. He watched as she finally got a hold of the fork, however it was in a very strange looking position. Her hand began to shake a little as she moved to stab the cake like a knife.

"My god!" Paul growled after several moments of painfully watching her try. He swept the fork right out of her hands and jabbed a small piece of cake before leaning over the table and shoving it right into her mouth.

"Mm?!" Dawn jerked backwards, surprised by his sudden movements. It wasn't long until her mouth was flooded with a strong flavorful mixture of both vanilla and strawberry. After chewing and swallowing, she stared intensely at Paul with her seemingly glowing yellow orbs. "What was that for?"

"We'll be here until the morning if I don't help you. Seriously, how pathetic are you at controlling your hand?" His eyes rolled right around in his head as he forked another bit of cake, sitting properly back in the seat of the booth.

"W-Well, I'm taking physical therapy. I only just recently lost my right arm. There are only problems when my actions have to be precise.." The girl averted her eyes, feeling her face heat up with a burning embarassment.

"Hn..." Wordlessly, Paul nodded before pushing the fork in after she yawned. Dawn quickly chewed an swallowed before beginning to cough.

"You could warn me, you know." She rubbed the back of her neck with her left hand before yawned yet again. He seemed to be staring blankly at her, waiting for permission or something. Familiar scents of black coffee soon reminded her of their earlier conversation as Dawn watched him sip what appeared to be the last in his mug.

"Do you like sweets?" Her mouth moved slightly from side to side as she took and ate a strawberry from him.

"Didn't you already ask me that?" The boy muttered, gaze traveling from her to the slice of cake on the plate which was white and decorated with gold flowers on the rim.

"You never answered me." Dawn grumbled, trying to imitate him.

"Well then no. Sweets are too sugary." Paul replied, shrugging his shoulders and forking another piece off the plate.

"When was the last time you had any?" She inquired, flashing him a skeptical glance.

"Maybe... Valentines day when Reggie made me Battenberg cake. I suppose I like it.." Pursing his lips, he brought his head down to rest in his hands.

"Battenberg cake? Is that the only thing you like?"

"Yeah.."

"Have you tried anything else since then?" Dawn questioned, pointing to the fork with her good hand.

"No, why?" Nodding, he slowly brought it to her mouth.

"Mmm..." Her gaze flickered around the cafe as she smiled and nearly chomped on the fork. Paul couldn't help but look at her lips which were somewhat glossy, even in the dull lighting.

"Dawn?" He raised an eyebrow when she reached, just barely taking the silverware from his hand. The girl awkwardly spun the fork in her hand before shakily managing to hold it the proper way. "What are you doin-"

She thrust the bit of strawberry cake through his lips while he was talking. His eyebrows knitted together as the food was practically forced down his throat. Dawn had moved across the table, putting all her weight on her useless right arm. Sparkling gold eyes smiled at Paul causing a small blush to form on his cheeks. It wasn't long until she had pulled away and flung herself back into her seat.

"Dawn?!" Just as Paul was about to say something, a sickeningly familiar voice called out to the girl. Both of them turned their heads to see three people. Two familiar brunettes and a flirty looking chartreuse-haired boy.

"May, Leaf! What are you doing here?" Unfazed, Dawn looked up at the two brunettes with a soft smile. However, they didn't return it, the two simply had shocked expressions on their faces. Drew also looked equally surprised, but more amused.

"More like what are _you_ doing here..?" Leaf quickly recovered, crossing her arms and flashing the navy-haired girl a mischievous grin.

"With someone like Paul too!" May added, fuming. Her face seemed to be flushed red with rage and her fists were clenched tightly.

"Now, now, maybe you should just chill. If not, I'd be glad to pour a glass of water on you." Drew grinned, eyes traveling to Dawn's glass of water which was still sitting on the table untouched.

"Shut it, Drew!" She snapped, clearly not in the mood to screw around with him.

"Jesus, Maple.." He grumbled, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"How long have you guys been standing there?" Dawn inquired, shifting in her seat. Once again, the atmosphere had taken a very uncomfortable turn.

"Long enough to see you hand-feed Paul." Snorting, a flirtatious smirk appeared on Drew's face, swiftly returning to his previous mood.

"So are you two dating?" Leaf quietly interrogated.

"You're dating the guy who almost killed you?!" May raged, eyes growing icier by the second.

"I never said I was dating him!" She bit her lip. "Why don't you all just sit down or something?"

"I'm not paying for them." Paul scoffed, turning his head to look out the window.

"You don't have to, they're just sitting." Dawn replied, scoffing right back at him.

"Move over, Dawn, like hell I'm sitting next to that guy." A certain brunette grit her teeth before sliding into the booth next to Dawn. Moving downwards, she allowed Leaf to slip in too.

"I guess I'm next to him?" Drew questioned, still smirking.

"Where else would you sit?" Paul muttered, still not bothering to look at the three.

"Even outside of school you still have quite the attitude." He laughed, sitting down next to the plum head.

"He does not!" Dawn frowned a little at Drew.

"Is. That. So?" May's jaw tightened as she sent Paul a death glare. However, he simply ignored it, clearly not in the mood to socialize with her.

"Why do you guys hate him so much?" She groaned, motioning to Paul with her left hand. Another loud sigh came from him as he jabbed the remaining bits of the cake and held it in front of her face.

"I don't hate him, I just don't really worry about him." Leaf shrugged, whipping out her phone upon hearing a notification go off. Her friend became entranced in reading something, going completely silent.

"Paul's not the friendliest so I don't talk to him. I don't think I hate him though." Drew shrugged, taking Dawn's water and drinking it without her consent. Saying nothing, the blue-haired girl let it slide, shaking off his rudeness. "'Dunno about Junie.." He glanced over at her.

"I hate him. But not like I hate Drew. I hate Drew with a passion but Paul is different." May snarled, unconsciously letting her hand drift downwards to her stomach where Paul had kicked her _that_ day.

"I don't understand why, but I really don't want to hear it anymore." Shaking her head, Dawn yawned.

"Anyways, why the hell are you guys here?" Paul turned to glare at them.

"We made a bet with Drew and he lost. So he had to take us out to eat." May explained bitterly.

"What was the bet?" Dawn inquired, voice sounding very drowsy.

"...Who could eat the most chicken nuggets.." She mumbled hesitantly.

"How many did you guys eat!?" The navy-blue haired girl exclaimed, raising an eyebrow to this.

"Both Maple and I? Maybe around two hundred?" Drew laughed, flipping his hair.

"That's... gross." Dawn almost gagged.

"I know, right? I had to be the judge and watch." Leaf mumbled, still staring at her phone which was in a black and neon green case. She shuddered to emphasize her disgust. "They were from McDonalds too."

"Have they thrown up yet?"

"Not yet."

"Miss Piggy's stomach is endless." Drew snorted.

"Kermit The Frog is very obnoxious." May stuck her tongue out at him.

"Bleh!" He yelled.

"Blaaah!" She shouted.

"So anyways, you and Paul aren't going out?" Leaf murmured, phone lighting up her jade orbs. Dawn shook her head in response.

"I'd like to keep it that wa-"

"Dawn's clearly exhausted, we'll be going now." Paul cut May off, pushing past Drew.

"I'm not tired-" Dawn started, but once more, Paul interrupted.

"You've been yawning and rubbing your eyes every since we got here. It's now nine, we've been here for almost three hours." He replied, not giving anyone a chance to say anything.

"Fine..." She sighed, trying to scoot closer to the edge. Although, it was not easy with both May and Leaf blocking her. Dawn moved as close as possible before sending Paul a pleading look.

"Move... please." The said boy tapped Leaf on the shoulder. In seconds, she had slid out of the booth, still reading on her phone. But as for May, it didn't look like she'd be moving any time soon. Edging closer, Dawn extended her arm over her friend and out to Paul.

"Oho? What's going on here?" Drew grinned.

"What are you doing?" May hissed.

"Come here." Paul ignored them, placing his hands right underneath Dawn's arm pits and lifting her with all his strength up and into the air.

"This is interesting. Do her breasts feel good?" Drew teased, noticing that his hands were practically groping her. Noticing this, Dawn flushed in embarassment, squeaking and hiding her face with her left hand.

"Where the fuck do you think you're touching her?!" May growled, standing up from her seat.

"You're holding her almost like Simba. Maybe you should put her down?" Leaf finally stopped reading and looked up giving Paul an awkward stare.

"Hn.." He swung Dawn around, away from the booth, and over to her wheelchair. Paul began to adjust her legs and arms until she nodded to him. The boy suddenly became aware of how smooth and soft her skin was even beneath the long socks and the hoodie she wore. Her body was just as petite as it looked. As much as he hated to admit it, her body could turn anyone on despite her lack of breasts. After a couple moments, he turned to Drew with a smirk. "I can't even feel her breasts, she's flat as a board."

"Paul!" Dawn felt her embarassment quickly melt into anger.

"Flatties can be cuties." Drew flipped his hair.

"Ah! I'm so tired, let's go, Paul!" She nearly screamed, trying to smack him with her left hand.

"There's got to be something going on between you two." Leaf coughed.

"That's impossible!" May scowled, eyebrows furrowing together.

"Maybe there is, maybe there isn't." Paul shrugged, just trying to set May off even more than she already was.

"What?!" The said girl roared.

"Paul, stop!" Dawn licked her lips. She could feel the eyes of Drew and Leaf on her while Paul and May had a stare down. Even though the background music had a happy and energetic beat, the atmosphere was incredibly tense and uncomfortable.

"I mean, you never know. We could be dating." Shaking his head, Paul's smirk only grew as May got angrier.

"No way, you guys haven't even known each other for long!" Her hair whipped everywhere as she furiously flailed around in frustration.

"Want to test that?" He huffed.

"Paul!" Dawn whimpered, looking over to Drew and Leaf for help. They simply flashed her amused expressions, chuckling to themselves.

"Sure! She'll never let a bastard like you touch her!" May laughed, eyes ablaze.

"Hn." Paul rolled his eyes, whirling around and leaning downwards towards Dawn.

It was only a matter of seconds until his lips locked with hers. Her eyes widened upon contact and her body tensed up to the point where her mind went completely blank. Their eyes were open as they stared at each other, nothing but shock evident. He noticed how soft and small her lips were compared to his own. Taking note of this, he decided to hold off pulling away just to see what things could faze her. Dawn's face was almost completely red, only making him want to look at her more. Feeling Paul's eyes pierce her body, she brought her left hand up to try and hide her face.

By now, her friends were snickering while a certain someone was being restrained. May was very close to screeching but luckily, Drew had his hand over her mouth. Paul's eyes furrowed together for a moment as white blinded him for a split second. Glancing over, he realized that Leaf was taking pictures, phone flashing in the dim lighting.

"Mm..!" She whined softly as Paul deepened the kiss. The girl couldn't flinch away as his hands firmly rested on her shoulders and her legs of course, could not move at all. Paul found himself drunk on her as he ran his tongue along her bottom lip. Suddenly, her head jerked in response, hand moving from her eyes to his chest in an attempt to shove him away. However, it was as if Dawn wasn't even interested in trying as her push seemed more like she was just resting her hand there for the heck of it.

At the moment, things couldn't get better for Paul's amusement. Her lips appeared to be extremely sensitive as she trembled and muffled whimpers. Although her eyes told him to stop, her body language seemed to be telling him to continue. The fact that she had yet to even try moving away was only fueling him. So, he ignored it, tasting Dawn while he had the chance. Her scent was about as arousing as the strawberry flavor of her kiss. It instantly reminded him of the strawberry cake except this was far better.

Smirking slightly, Paul watched as her startled golden eyes began to close. That small hand which was currently on him balled into a fistful of his shirt. He kept his gaze on her, currently entranced by the gentle, blushing expression she wore. Everything seemed to be warm and comforting until her eyebrows knitted together and tears began to slip out.

Dawn's glistening eyes snapped open, quickly darting over to where May was currently thrashing about in Drew's grasp, eyes meeting. A now desperate look coated May's face as she kicked and punched at the chartreuse boy. Now confused, Paul broke the kiss, flashing her a worried and clueless look as he pulled away.

Face wet and twisted in what looked like pain and guilt, her head dropped as a loud heart-breaking wail broke free from both her heart and her mouth. Her tears flew off her face as she released Paul's shirt and brought her hand to her eyes, covering them once more. After screaming in anguish a second time, she loudly sobbed her friend's name.

 **"May!"**

* * *

 **Well... That was certainly long, wasn't it?**

 **Yes, it is possible to fall in love and trust someone in a single day. Now, whether or not it'll last is the question..**

 **So.. Yeah, if you can't tell, I'm a pure virgin when it comes to writing romance and junk. I'm especially terrible at getting the emotion I want across.. But if you've got any tips for that, I'd love to hear them!  
**

 **Anyways, there's obviously a pretty decent reason for May's overprotective personality. And... I dunno, I just love drama...**

 **About Chili. It's hinted, but if you didn't already catch on, he's one of the tri-gym leaders in Pokemon Black &White along with Cilan and Cress. He is the fire-type user and I felt like someone like him was very suited to both Paul and the scenario. **

**Also, once again, this fanfiction will depict Paul a little OOC. I personally find his conversing between him and Dawn interesting, but if it's a bit too perverted for someone like him, just let me know and I'll dial it down a notch. I sorta figured that perverted comments would be a far easier way to have him tease her. Because... you know, I'm not trying to make him seem mean to her... all the time, uhuhu.**

 **While you guys sit there and struggle to comprehend what just happened this chapter, I will be here trying my best to make everything better.**

 **And while you're at it, maybe let me know if you personally prefer stories being written in third-person POV or if you would rather read from a first-person POV. That would be real helpful!**

 **If you have any questions, I'll be glad to clear/fix things up.**

 **Last note: ** I may or may not change the rating to M in the future for... planned situations.** Although, with the current relationship between Paul and Dawn, I don't think that'll be happenin' for a couple chapters.**

 **So..**

 **That's all I really have to say for now. Once again, thanks to everyone who reviewed and even stopped to look at my last chapter!**

 **Thanks a whole lot!**

 **Feel free to drop a review or two, I'd really appreciate it!  
~Bear!**


	3. My Friends

**Chapter 3 ^-^!**

 **EW. EW. EW. OH GOD. I just reread my chapters a third time and caught SO MANY fkin' errors xD**

 **Holy crap I'm really sorry. I didn't realize how painful it must be for you guys to read it xD I actually caught one error in my writing in the first chapter which stated that Dawn couldn't feel anything in her legs. THAT IS FALSE As mentioned several times in the second chapter, you guys know now that she DOES in fact, still have nerves in her paralyzed limbs. Aside from that, I had a whole crap ton of spelling errors.**

 **Anyways, if you've stuck with me up until now... My lord, you must be a saint.**

 **It's here sooner than Survival Of The Fittest's next chapter. I dunno why, but for some reason I prefer writing Lovely Mine. For my other fanfic, I just sort of took it down a notch. But with no action and stuff, it's a little bit boring.**

 **This story is an excitement for me..**

 **Gratitude/Comments:**  
 **-**

 **Tropicallight, thank you very much for reading and reviewing! I'm really glad that you like Lovely Mine as I was skeptical as to whether or not people would.**

 **Guest, I'll be trying my best to make Paul seem less OOC. So yeah, thanks for that and the advice on writing romance! Thanks for reading and reviewing ^-^!**

 **Dolphin02, It makes me really happy to hear that you love my fanfiction c:! Honestly, I'm not too confident about my writing, but if you say it's pretty good then I'm even happier. Oh- and Dawn's eyes are blue, but I changed them to gold since I thought it went better with her hair. ^ ^!**

 **IcyRhapsody... Alright, that's probably one of the longest and most positive reviews anyone has ever left me. I sincerely thank you for that! Reviews like these are what help encourage me to write even more. I think that it's really cool that you've had a bit of one on one experience with these sort of problems and disabilities. As for the characters, I never really thought about them that much, honestly. But now that you've talked about them a little bit, I've adjusted my plans for future chapters. Honestly, I'm a whole lot happier with my changed plans now than I was originally. So for that, I thank you again. In fact, I feel that now the characters have much more emotions and troubles now. Thank you, thank you.**

 **Alright, that's it c:! Thanks to everyone who picked up this story! I appreciate it a whole lot!**

 **I will be writing in 1st person POV at some point in this chapter, see how you all like it and if you don't, I can always switch back to 3rd person POV. Oh- and there'll be a little ORS in this chapter c:**  
 **Here we go!**

* * *

 _Disclaimer:*_

I don't own Pokemon.

* * *

 _Chapter 3 : My Friends_

'May!'

Something inside her broke. It was as if someone had taken a glass mirror and shattered it before smashing it to even tinier bits with their feet. After hearing her friends agonized screams, May was even angrier than the night Paul almost killed her.

"Stop it!" She shrieked at the top of her lungs, wildly thrashing around in Drew's grasp.

"Hey!" The chartreuse-haired boy currently restraining her tightened his grip on her as she almost broke free.

"Get the fuck away from her!" May screeched, attracting the eyes of the remaining people in the cafe. Her teeth were bared as she suddenly threw her head backwards, bashing Drew, who was trying to restrain her, in the face.

"Shit!" Drew released her, stumbling back before leaning against the table of the booth. He clutched his nose which was now bleeding.

"M-May!" Leaf gasped, startled. She dropped her phone, standing up and moving over to where Drew groaned with a few napkins.

"I thin'k she bro'ke it!" Tears of pain began to well in his eyes as he stifled another whine.

Ignoring Drew completely, a certain brunette flew by them and over to where Paul was, standing close to Dawn's wheelchair. Grabbing his shirt, May roughly thrust him aside before taking her place protectively in front of Dawn who was still letting out wails of what seemed to be regret. She looked over her shoulder at the girl, eyebrows knitting together with worry.

"You don't force yourself on someone like that, fucking bastard!" May spat, clenching her fists. Sky-blue eyes now ablaze, she was ready to kill anyone who dared approach the wheelchair. "Go to hell!"

"She wasn't complaining. In fact, she seemed to be enjoying it a little bit." Paul replied, crossing his arms. He recovered quickly from the shock and quickly exchanged his worried expression for a more stony look.

"I-I guess she wasn't really fighting back as hard as she could." Leaf tried to point out, picking up her phone and shoving it deep into the pocket of her fleece.

"Exactly." He grumbled.

"But on the other hand... she could've been afraid." Looking over at Dawn, Leaf flashed her a very worried glance.

"Well I'd be afraid too if some shit-head started trying to get in my pants." May snarled viciously, red slipping down her chin. She had bitten her bottom lip so hard that drew blood.

"I wasn't trying to get in her pants!" Tightening his jaw, Paul glared straight at her, beginning to lose his composure. The last thing he wanted to be known as was a playboy who was only after sex.

"So you were only trying to traumatize her?" Laughing almost hysterically, May lost control of her emotions. Hot, wet tears streaked down her face as she reached back to touch Dawn's paralyzed right hand in an attempt to pacify herself.

"Traumatize her? Look- we're done here!" Paul almost roared, grabbing May by her shoulders and throwing her into Drew, who was already in enough pain. His eyes turned icier than ever before as he dug around in his pockets for his wallet.

"Don't you run away, Shinji! I'll fucking murder you!" May screeched, not paying any mind to Drew's bloody nose and moaning as she quickly pulled away from him.

"May, stop!" Leaf tried to grab ahold of her, but was knocked away in the blink of an eye. Just as May began to move towards Paul, Drew's hand shot out, clamping down on her shoulder.

"Save it for tomorrow. They'll both be at school, handle them then." The chartreuse haired boy frowned, flipping his hair in stress. His hand still clutched his nose which was gushing blood. It trickled down his cheek and a bit of the bruise poked out just above where his hand covered his face. Tuesday night and she was already getting into more trouble. Not saying a word, Dawn lowered her head, only crying more.

"Calm yourself." He huffed, taking the handles of Dawn's wheelchair. Scowling, he turned and threw money at the three before snapping his head back around. "Keep the damn change."

The boy tried not to pay much attention to the sobbing girl and the angry screeches that could still be heard from outside the cafe door. Her crying was quieted to muffled whimpers as soon as they exited. Paul would surely make fun of her for being such a crybaby later on. Greeted by the falling white powder, the two began down the street which had slowed down a whole lot since they'd first arrived.

Dawn's face was once again, flushed red. She dared not try to talk or even look at him as they rolled along the now quiet town. He could only stare at the navy blue hair, dotted with snow like the starry sky. It was a beautiful sight that even somewhat astounded Paul. However, he too said nothing as they travelled to his car.

Only a few minutes of walking had passed when it began to snow harder. Stopping, Paul took off his black and light gray jacket, throwing it over the wheelchair and onto her head. Wordlessly, he began to walk, pushing her along as she silently took his jacket and began adjusting it around her the best she could with her one hand.

His coat was surprisingly warm and smelled just like him. Fresh rain maybe? Dawn couldn't really tell, but that was about as close as she was going to get. Despite it being very calming and reassuring, it was also very awkward for her. After all, one of her best friends just had a very heated argument after she childishly started crying.

The soft scratching of the wheels on her chair grew quieter as they moved across the street where there was a few fresh layers of snow covering the sidewalk. Paul's feet made a few crunching noises each time he took a step. Around them, streetlights glowed, standing out in the area which was almost as white as paper now.

He looked forward, blankly staring at whatever was in front of him. There was nothing to say and he doubt she was going to speak up any time soon. She was adorable when she was quiet, but Paul knew that when tomorrow came around, Dawn would be scolding him like a mother would a child. In fact, she'd probably be super pissed off at him for causing such a scene with her friends in a public place.

Luckily, Chili had left so his friend had not witnessed what had happened. The manager of the place hadn't interrupted them for reasons Paul couldn't comprehend. Maybe the workers didn't want to get caught up in the middle of a squabble between pubescent children? It was a reasonable enough answer for him.

Shaking his head, Paul finally turned down the street where he had parked, moving until he arrived at the back. He looked down hesitantly at her through the snow, debating whether or not he should even try to move her. She caught his gaze, wiping at her face before slowly nodding in silence.

Paul reached to pick her up but froze after noticing her tense up. Eyebrows furrowing together, he muttered a low apology before unlocking his car with the button on his keys. Shoving his keys back in his pocket, he lifted her up and into the air. But, this time he held her farther away from his body than usual. Chills rolled over her body as he touched her.

Those shivers and chills that crept her spine disappeared as soon as the car door was opened and she was placed inside. This time, Paul didn't take his time to adjust her body, rushing as quickly as possible. It was almost like he was trying to avoid poison as his hands barely made any contact with her.

Although she felt as if he was treating her like some sort of toxic beast, Dawn remained silent. Her emotions were very mixed up and at the moment she had no idea what to think of anyone. He was right not to lay his hands on her again, she knew that he was either thinking of May's threats of her mental wellbeing. Even so, his actions somehow made her feel disgusting.

Without looking up at her, Paul slammed the passenger door shut. She could only watch him out of the corner of her eye and window as he briskly walked back to the trunk. Clattering and shifting sounds rang in her ears as he loaded her wheelchair into the back of his car. Dawn still had his rain-scented coat wrapped around her, giving her warmth despite the blizzard outside the car.

Her gaze travelled to the outside which was almost entirely white with snow. The girl pursed her lips together as she heard the trunk shut and soon, the door to the driver's seat open. A small grunt and a sigh entered her ears as Paul sat down next to her. Once more, she turned her head even more, not wanting to look at him.

He quickly started up the engine, turning on the heat, and beginning to pull out of the parking space. Wind shield wipers worked quickly with squeaking and sliding as Paul began to drive. Dawn felt her blood turn to ice as they began to head home in pure silence. The engine kicked up even more as he stomped on the gas. It seemed as if he wanted to go home and just get away as much as she did.

Unconsciously, Dawn lifted her left hand to touch her lips. She flinched lightly as she ran the tips of her fingers over her lower lip. It tickled a lot but for some reason, it made her want to do it again. Her gentle smile appeared on her face before dissolving just as quickly. His kiss made her realize how sensitive and weak her body was. The thought made her feel absolutely pathetic.

Exhaling, she took a deep breath. That unpleasant feeling of being enraged with Paul overtook her. However, she grit her teeth in an attempt to hold herself back from saying anything. It was already enough that she was emotionally unstable at the moment. She couldn't possibly get him riled enough and not burst into tears or completely flip out on him, not that she could do much anyways.

Car rides had never seemed as long with her mother as they were with Paul. Now that she thought about it, whenever they were in the car, things were always the quietest. Awkward, Dawn played with a few strands of her hair. Any normal girl would've begun braiding for fun but unfortunately, that was an activity for those with two hands.

It seemed that her wandering thoughts had done a nice job distracting her as before she knew it, they were pulling into her driveway. Through the falling white powder, the girl could see her very familiar house. A soft sigh of relief escaped her lips as Paul shut his car off and stepped out to get her wheelchair.

The usual process of his large, rough hands setting her in the wheelchair occurred. She had to refrain herself from wincing away from him as she was swiftly rolled over her front door. Dawn couldn't tell whether he was nearly running due to the tense atmosphere or the immense amount of snow. Looking up, she met his eyes for a split second before looking back down.

Just as he was about to ring the doorbell, Paul stopped. Before she knew it, he had circled around and was now crouching in front of her wheelchair. His eyes were locked on the ground, hair falling as gravity pulled it down as much as it could. He seemed to be mentally fighting with himself over something. Dawn tilted her head in confusion as a response to this.

Suddenly, her body was forced back a little bit as two arms wrapped around her neck. She could feel his cold, exposed arms passing through her hair and onto her neck. It was then when she remembered that she still had his coat. Her golden tired and puffy eyes immediately shot upwards. Paul was right in front of her in only his shirt and pants.

Dawn's eyebrows furrowed together and her lips pressed even more. He was out here in the blizzard dressed like that with no complaint at all. Perhaps he was trying to make up for what he did? Shaking her head, she pushed him back with her left hand.

"I'm sorry.." Paul averted his eyes, falling back without hesitation. His hands helped to remove his coat from her body before falling to his sides as he stood. He looked at her for a response, eyes about as emotionless as hers were now.

"...Sure." Dawn mumbled quietly. Was it possible for it to be this cold and this snowy in February? The weather truly confused her. Shivers wracked her body as soon as she took his coat off.

Wordlessly, he rang the doorbell. In a matter of seconds, the porch lights lit up the evening, glowing a vibrant yellow. Paul's eyes narrowed as the front door clicked and opened with a swoosh. There in the doorway stood Johanna, looking as new as ever. It was like they had never left her in shambles earlier that evening.

"Welcome!" Johanna greeted them with a warm smile which made Paul tense up. Quickly, he handed the handles to Dawn's wheelchair over to the woman. Wordlessly, he nodded at her, slipping his coat on.

"Thanks.." Dawn muttered to him. However, she was staring right at her mother when she said it, trying not to make anymore eye-contact with him.

"Paul, it's freezing out there. Why don't you come in?" The girl's mother laughed softly, stepping aside as if expecting him to walk right in. This woman's laugh was warm and friendly, very much like Dawn's. Even awkwarder, Paul shifted his feet in the snow beneath him.

"I'm afraid I'd be intruding. Besides, I really.. need to get going." He replied trying to act normally, sneaking in quick glances at Johanna's daughter.

"Ah.. I see. It's pretty late anyways. I'll see you some other time I suppose." Johanna nodded.

"Thank you, but that might not be for a while." His hair swayed gently as he whirled around, shoving his hands into the pockets of his coat. "Good night." He murmured as politely as possible, walking off towards his car.

Before Johanna could do or say anything, the boy was gone. She stared after him until the illumination of his headlights disappeared into the snowy night. Closing the door shut, the woman turned the lock before looking over to Dawn. Her daughter was staring blankly into space, usually sparkling eyes now dull.

"Help me get up early for school tomorrow, please..."

* * *

 ** _Dawn's POV:_**

Unsettling emotions swallowed my body as May ran right into my sight. My mother stopped wheeling me, allowing May to take over my wheelchair. I was about to cry right then and there, but I held it back the best I could. After all, the last thing I wanted was my mother fussing over me even more than she already does.

"I love you." She kissed my cheek and lightly tapped my nose with her finger before hurrying off to the car. I waited for her to exit my vision before almost falling out of my wheelchair.

"Whoa!" May shouted, just barely managing to catch me. "Jeez, Dawn."

"Let me just stay like this forever." I whined when she tried to place me back in my wheelchair. My left arm was wrapped around her and my hand grabbed fistfuls of the dark blue blazer she wore. Last night I had cried until my tear ducts must have run dry. Now, all I wanted to do was hug someone that I actually knew very well.

"Nope, we've 'gotta go!" She laughed, putting her hand on the top of my head for a moment. After a couple seconds, May lifted her hand and walked around to the back of my wheelchair. The hand that I used to hold onto her fell back onto my lap as she moved away and began to push me towards the school entrance.

"Okay.." With a pout, I sighed. I didn't want to see Leaf, Paul, Drew, or anyone but May. Things would only be extremely tense and uncomfortable around those three. My blood began to turn to ice and my head began to hurt when I remembered the events of last night. There was nothing I could do but sit there and cry. The pitied looks that were flickered my way didn't help my situation at all either.

May stopped just outside the doors to the school after wheeling me up the ramp. Looking back at her, I gave her a very confused look. She said nothing, rummaging through her bag before pulling out a pair of silver and sky-blue wireless headphones. Her hand moved and brushed strands of my hair out of my face.

"I got you a present, although you won't be able to hear me." My friend smiled at me before sliding the headphones over my head and onto my ears. I couldn't hear anything after that. No low murmurs and chatters of other students, no birds, no sounds of the passing cars in the distance, nothing.

"May?" Since I didn't know how loud I was talking, I spoke as quietly as possible. I sent her the look that told her I didn't know what was going on. For a split second, she lifted the right side of my headphones off my head.

"Just go with it." She grinned and stuck her tongue out at me before readjusting them back to where they were. Soon, I could feel myself being rolled in my wheelchair through the doors and into the main building. Of course, there were students standing all over the place in the hallways which seemed to be less crowded than they were when I had first gotten back on Monday. Now it was Wednesday, not long since _that day_.

I felt myself shrink in my seat as familiar cold gazes burned their way into my skin. However, this time I could not hear their snickers or comments as we made our way to homeroom. My head went up to look at May who seemed to be glaring at everyone around us. But, as soon as she noticed me staring, her fierce expression was replaced with a more friendly one. She winked at me, giving me a quick thumbs up before continuing to walk.

Was this her idea of a gift? Had she done this so I wouldn't be able to hear the things people say about me? I smiled at the thought of it, looking forward again. In silence, I relaxed, truly grateful for having a friend as thoughtful as her.

The heavy eyes that made me want to disappear from the world suddenly felt a whole lot lighter. Lips moved, eyes turned, students leaned over to one another, and yet I could hear nothing. They must be talking about how disgusting my overall existence is. However, I didn't care at the moment. Right now, all I needed was May. I could feel the pains and fears in my heart dissolve into nothingness and all of the reasons why I was thankful pile up inside my head.

My body was lighter and it felt like the air was passing right through it. Back and forth, my legs swung in delight before stopping as May turned me into the classroom. With her permission, I took the headphones off with my hand, sliding them down until they were rested on my collarbone around my neck.

"...Dawn."

I looked up to see Leaf standing in front of my desk. Her eyes fell away from mine as she nervously fiddled with the hem of her skirt. Like May, she wore a dark blue blazer. She kept her outfit simple with a white blouse aside from the pale green hair pins pulling back the hair on the left side of her face.

The uniform and dress code at my school was set for everyone. Girls wore a light gray skirt with two dark blue stripes going just above the bottom and around it. They also were given the choice of wearing a blouse, sweater, socks, ribbon, tie, etc. Although, you really can't say that our school was very strict as you can walk around and see a number of girls wearing disgustingly short skirts or those with their breasts practically falling out of their shirts.

Looking down, I took a quick scan of my own attire with my eyes. My clothes were almost exactly the same as Leaf and May's aside from the long, thigh-length black socks I wore. In all, I didn't stick out at all. I didn't really do any adjustments to my appearance or uniform like most others did. I wore no bands, bracelets, or jewelry aside from the golden clip pinning back a few locks of hair.

My chest was small, I had no sex appeal at all, and I was hopelessly unable to move. Honestly, I wondered why May, Leaf, and Paul decided to stick around me. And I also wondered why my mother had yet to give up on me. Unconsciously, I let out a heavy sigh.

"-So yeah, I'll delete the photos if you want me to." Leaf snapped me out of the many thoughts circling my mind.

"Sorry, can you repeat?" I shook my head back and forth in an attempt to blow some sense into myself.

"I said that I'm sorry. May told me your... circumstances. I sent the photos to you but I can delete them from my camera roll if you want." The brunette nodded at me, looking up at the clock as students began filling in.

"Please delete them.." I mumbled, I reached into the pocket of my blazer for my phone, but it wasn't there. Mentally, I began to hit myself as I realized that I must've forgotten to grab it. With a sigh, my eyes flickered up towards her before I flashed her a soft smile. Of course, Leaf would never do anything to hurt me intentionally, but sometimes she did stuff that was just ridiculous.

"Don't worry, I will." Leaf grinned at me before picking up her phone and turning it on. She moved and slid into her desk, eyes locked on her phone as she began to delete the photos she had taken. I swore I saw a slightly pained and hesitant look on her face as she rid her device of the photos. "Do you... forgive me for not doing anything yesterday?"

"O-Of course!" I smiled brightly. It was easy to forgive Leaf once I took a look at her genuinely apologetic expression. Both her and May were my best and practically only friends. Everything would be awkward and uncomfortable for me if we couldn't get along. Besides, everyone makes mistakes, right?

"Where's Drew?" May spoke up after a few seconds, looking over to Leaf. Sighing, she looked up and at the two of us.

"Last night you broke his nose, remember? You should've gotten a text saying that he'd be in the hospital until this afternoon." Snorting, a small smile crept onto her face.

"Well I don't check my phone all the time like you do." The other brunette retorted, crossing her arms.

"Ever since you got that phone, you haven't once taken your eyes off of it. What are you even doing on it?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"We're too low on funds this month to purchase anymore books. My phone allows me to read almost anything online for free. Also, I've read all the books that you and May own." Leaf mumbled, setting her phone down as the bell rung and the door to the classroom clattered and slid open.

"Again?" May sighed, moving to her seat as our pessimistic teacher stalked into the room.

"Let's get this period over with." He grumbled, slapping a thick folder filled with papers onto his desk at the front of the room.

My gaze travelled over to Leaf who was fidgeting in her seat. She was obviously trying to resist the urge to look at her phone. A low sigh escaped my mouth as I dug through the bag attached to my wheelchair for my notebook. Leaf's family has always been wealthier than the average family. But, recently this year her father's company was kicked off the market by a competitor so their funding went down. While I was in the hospital for my right arm a while back, May texted me saying that Leaf's dad was going to be in Hoenn for the next month or so.

Apparently he's been sending money home since then.

"Copy this down, all of you." The gruff voice of our teacher entered my ears. He glared at us with sleepy, bitter swamp-green eyes. I took a deep breath before shakily trying to copy down the notes on the board. It was really hard for me to try and write with my left hand. All of the sudden, a scrunched up ball of paper was tossed, landing right in front of me.

Analyzing the room, I tried to find the source of the paper. I sighed and looked back down at it, unable to find it's sender. My left hand tried it's best to open it up as silently as possible. The note made a few crunching noises before I could flatten it out across my notebook.

 _Dawn._

 _Leaf, May, Drew, and I are going to be hanging at my house tomorrow night. I heard from Leaf that there's something going on between you and Paul Shinji. We've got no idea why you're getting involved with a guy like that, but the girls said that tomorrow's gathering might give you an opportunity to explain everything._

 _Of course, that guy isn't going to be there. So anyways, do you want to come? May won't go anywhere without you and Leaf won't even look at me when either of you two aren't around. We can play some games, screw around a bit, maybe have some smokes, whatever you want._

 _Please come though, I'm begging you. If you don't then I'll never get another good chance like this to hang with Leaf. If you're interested, find me after class and we can exchange numbers or emails or just something, I 'dunno._

 _Help me out here,_

 _Gary._

I laughed silently to myself once I had finished reading it. Gary, the biggest playboy in the school, even more flirty than Drew, was into Leaf. One of her best friends, a book worm, and Gary, a social ladies' man... That would be a real interesting match as long as he could tolerate her sometimes obnoxious actions or remarks.

As long as Paul wasn't there... things would be fine. On and on, our teacher blabbed lazily about various topics. My eyes travelled over to Gary who was throwing multiple different notes at Leaf. She snorted and leaned over her desk, trying harder to ignore him and concentrate on the board. May on the other hand, looked as if she would drift off to sleep at any moment.

"That's about it, study period for the last fifteen minutes. I'm going to go get some coffee.." The professor grumbled, picking up his mug which was empty. He turned it upside down but not a drop came out. I eyed him strangely as he turned and sluggishly dragged his feet out of the classroom.

Slowly, the silence broke into a low hum as the door shut right behind the teacher. People around me were already up and out of their seats, chatting with each other and on their phones. With the shrill screech of a chair to my right, Leaf flung herself backwards in her seat. She quickly walked around her desk to May, whose desk was right in front of her. I watched as she shot forward, sticking her face right into Mays and holding her phone out.

With the flash of her camera, she took a selfie. Wordlessly, Leaf rushed back over to me before wrapping her arm around my shoulders and snapping a picture.

"Technology is awesome!" She exclaimed, shutting her phone off with a click. "But I sort of miss reading books.."

"Oh! Leaf, leaf." Gary pulled a plastic bag out of his desk, walking over to us.

"What's that?" I pointed to the bag he had in his hands, raising both of my eyebrows.

"It's for Leaf." He smiled, shoving it right into her arms. Leaf almost fell back into me due to the force of it before quickly regaining her balance.

"For me?" Her eyes burned into his as she scanned what she was given. Upon seeing him nod, Leaf slowly opened up the plastic bag.

"What is it?" May turned around in her seat after gathering her things. She stuffed things like her notebook, pens, and sticky notes into her schoolbag.

The two of us exchanged confused glances as a big smile spread graced Leaf's face. Those eyes which once burned with suspicion now sparkled and glistened with excitement. Gary stood right in front of her, looking quite satisfied with himself. I strained my neck to peer inside the bag, but Leaf was pretty much holding it to her chest.

"Holy crap, thank you!" A loud thump and the crackling of plastic was heard as she dropped the bag on my desk and nearly jumped on Gary. His face flushed bright red as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"H-Hey, what's up with her?" The spiky haired brunette stammered, looking and May and I for an explanation. Meanwhile, Leaf clung tightly to him, very content.

"She's got this weird habit of putting her arms around peoples' necks." I answered, muffling a laugh with the sleeve of my blazer. My eyes travelled to the bag as I reached my left hand in and pulled out it's contents. There in my hands was a very thick and large box.

"What is that?" May eyed it, beginning to help me load my own possessions into the black bag attached to my wheelchair. I nodded in gratitude to her before also staring intensely at the box. It was pitch black with what looked to be about three really big looking books in it.

Suddenly, Leaf let go of Gary, whirling around. Hair flying everywhere, she grabbed the box and flipped it over. She pointed excitedly to the title, looking back and forth between May and I.

"Maximum Ride!" Leaf almost screamed. "I completely forgot about it!"

"That series you were bugging me about last year?" I rested my hand on my lap, looking at the clock. There was only a few minutes until the next class.

"Yeah." Turning to Gary, Leaf stared at him in awe. "How did you know I was interested in it?"

"I know everyone." He replied cockily, running his hand through his hair. Once again, I had to muffle a giggle. It was just a thought, but Gary must've asked one of his many ex-girlfriends for information on Leaf. The thought was pretty creepy, but sweet at the same time. Having someone care enough for you to pull together the guts and go around asking for ways to satisfy you... I looked over at Leaf who was still smiling, giggly as if she was now drunk on books or something. That must be nice.

"Oh! I forgot my phone at home." I told Gary, taking a pencil out of a compartment strapped to the sides of my wheelchair.

"That's fine. You have some paper?" Gary yawned, stretching. His sharp emerald-green eyes flickered between the three of us.

"Here." May dug into her schoolbag before pulling out a thin red notebook. She tore off an empty page and crumpled it into a ball. When she was done, May threw it lightly onto my desk.

"I guess I'll be giving you my contact." Shrugging, I flattened out the sheet of paper and began to write on it. I quickly wrote both my email and number down. Just as I was about to hand it over to Gary, I retracted my hand.

"Dawn?" Leaf cocked an eyebrow, hugging the box of books to her chest.

"Subscribe to my blog while you're at it. Although, I rarely ever post on it." With a laugh, I sloppily folded the paper over and handed it to him.

"Blog? 'Sounds interesting." He smiled a bit, putting it in the pocket of his blazer which was pitch-black. Suddenly, I felt his eyes on my right hand which was resting neatly in my lap.

"Why are you looking like that?" May's relaxed attitude abruptly transformed into a very agitated one.

"No... reason." Gary's eyes only seemed to stare harder. I shifted in my seat, very edgy with the way he was looking at it.

"Hey, don't stare!" She growled, thumping the back of his head.

"Sorry!" Wincing, Gary tried to look away, but only found himself looking more. His eyes put holes in my motionless hand. As much as I wanted to put my headphones on and try to escape, I couldn't. After all, the headphones only blocked out sound, not reality. Mixed emotions coated and overwhelmed my chest as he continued to gaze.

"What's so intriguing?" The brunette reached for her bandana which was still tied around her wrist. In a way, it was like a security blanket. May never did anything without that red bandana and sometimes I wondered whether or not that was healthy for a girl her age. Her teeth grit and her jaws tightened again.

"He's just curious!" Leaf quickly grabbed ahold of May just as she was about to throw a punch at him. "It's sort of rude, but you know it's not everyday you get to see and interact with a... person with a disability."

"I guess... but he doesn't have to-!"

"May, it's alright." I smiled softly, lifting my left hand into the air and waving it slightly. "You don't have to get so worked up about it."

"I'm really sorry." Gary mumbled, managing to pull his eyes away from me and look down at his feet.

"Do you have questions or something?" Heaving a sigh, I looked up at the clock again.

"Actually, yes." He smiled lightly at me before picking up his schoolbag.

"Save it for after school." May grabbed her bag and began to push me out the door before I could respond to him.

"I'll see you guys then!"

"May, I'm coming too!" Leaf shouted, scrambling to get her things together. She burst out the door and after us at top speed.

These people... meant so much to me.

* * *

 **-After-School-**

"Where are you going?!"

I shouted loudly as May pulled me to the side of the hallway and began to walk off.

"To the bathroom?" She looked at me with a very confused expression on her face.

"But what if I run into Paul again?" Letting out a small whimper, I slid off the soundproof headphones with my left hand.

"You'll be fine. Look, Gary's coming to watch you." My friend replied, waving. I looked over my shoulder to see Gary walking over to us. Once again, the hallways were clear and much quieter than they were in the morning. It had been about fifteen minutes since school let out and I was already missing it. Sitting in classes passing notes, mouthing words, doodling weird creatures in our notebooks.

"Where's Leaf?" I began to look around for her, almost expecting her to pop out from behind Gary.

"She signed up for after-school tutoring every day of this week." May sighed. "That girl has a problem with studying."

"And Drew?" I inquired, remembering that the boy had returned to school during lunch.

"His _mommy_ came to pick him up right when the day ended. You should've seen it, Dawn. His mom was fussing all over him in front of everyone." She snorted, crossing her arms.

"Well, you did break his nose." A laugh passed through my lips before I even realized it. It made me feel so mean to laugh about that.

"Whatever. I really have to take a wazz so talk to Gary or something." May turned and walked off in the direction of the bathroom. As usual, she looked back several times at me, flashing Gary the death-look.

"I saw your blog." He commented, leaning against the wall right beside my wheelchair.

"What did you think?" I questioned, hoping for good feedback.

"I liked it." Gary's straight face broke into a small smile. "But, what is this?"

"Hm?" Curious, I watched as he dug into his pockets and pulled out his phone. The case was made of actual wood and seemed to be neatly crafted. Before I could ask about it, he opened something on it up and shoved the screen into my face.

 _I'm fucking done with this stupid world._

 _God might as well just kill me right now._

 _Somebody kill me right now._

 _I am so fed up and frustrated right now._

 _Everybody is acting like they're the ones dying. Hey guys, you're not. I'm the dying one._

 _So, don't say your sorry for me and put on the sad, pitiful expression._

 _You all don't have the right to cry and break down in tears._

 _If anything, I should be the one doing that._

 _So why are you acting as if I've already died?_

 _Why do you all suddenly care about me? Who told you I was dying?_

 _I know that I'm not this popular, so please explain to me why dying suddenly makes me special._

 _Don't look at me like I'm some sort of abused puppy._

 _As for You Know Who, you know who you are and I bet you're reading this with guilt._

 _You should be guilty._

 _What you did to me was messed up and if I really meant that little to you, than you might as well have never gotten involved with me at all._

"H-Hey... how did you find this? I posted this two years ago." My eyes widened after I finished reading.

"Most of your five hundred and seventy one entries had frilly, positive names. I was scrolling through your uploads when this one caught my attention." Gary mumbled, shoving his phone back in his pockets.

"You had some questions for me?" I laughed nervously, trying to change the subject.

"Yeah. But now I have more." He responded, pursing his lips.

"Oh... Then can we start with ones on my.. illness?" For reasons, I absolutely hated referring to ALS as a disease. The word sounded so much crueler and disgusting than illness.

"What are we playing? Twenty questions?" With a laugh, he slid down the wall and sat down on the ground.

"Mm.. Not really, just talking. First question? You ask, I'll answer." I shrugged.

"You have to answer as truthfully as possible, got it?" Gary yawned.

"I'll try." This time, my voice came out quieter than before.

"Good enough. First off, do your nerves still work in your arm and legs?" He reached and gently tapped my right leg which was closest to him.

"Yes. I can feel pain, warmth, everything." I also yawned, leaning back in my seat.

"Is there a way to treat or prevent it?"

"No."

"How long have you had ALS?"

"Four years, going on five."

"So... you're going to... die near the end of the year?"

"Pretty much.." The thought made me shiver a little bit, but I quickly pushed that problem to the back of my head.

"Why do you still come to school then? There's no point in pursuing an education." Gary hesitantly muttered his question, trying his best not to sound too mean or blunt with his words.

"I want to live the rest of my life as a normal girl. Besides, what would I do if I just stayed home everyday for a year? I don't have an escort and I can't do anything for myself." I heaved a exasperated sigh, running over my right hand with my left.

"I see. Can I ask you about your blog now?" He began staring up at the ceiling, running his hands through his hair.

"Sure." By now, I had reverted back to my calm self, getting over the shock of having seen my old blog post.

"Wait- are you sure you can answer my questions truthfully?" The spiky-haired brunette froze, glancing over at me.

"I'm certain. It's true I was surprised, but my anger is gone and everything that happened in the past doesn't matter to me anymore. The events back then are no big deal to me right now anyways." I tucked a fallen strand of navy blue hair behind my ear before looking up from my lap. Giving him my full attention, I mentally prepared myself to answer anything.

"Alright, if you say so. Who is _You Know Who_?" Gary stared at me with his piercing emerald-green eyes. Sometimes, I wondered why Leaf wouldn't be captivated by someone like him. Despite his long history of being a player, he was really nice and admittedly attractive.

"My ex-boyfriend." I replied simply.

"You wrote this entry two years ago. So you were fourteen, right? Were you in middle school or your first year of high school?"

"Middle school."

"Why were you so mad?"

"I was ridiculed by my classmates from sixth to seventh grade when I lost the motor neurons in my legs. My disease somehow got leaked to the entire school and everyone started pitying me or something." I grumbled, trying to quickly shake away the thoughts after answering. This was nothing. His questions didn't bother me. They were nothing compared to the things people said about me in the halls before May got me soundproofing headphones. My hand reached and gently caressed the white and light blue headphones resting around my neck.

"Why did you break up with your ex-boyfriend..?" Gary must of noticed my uncomfortable behavior because his eyes travelled away from mine. However, he did nothing to tone down the personal questions. Why did he want to know so much about me, I wondered?

"I didn't. He dumped me around the time when the mobility in my legs pretty much dumped me." I shifted in my wheelchair.

"Didn't he know about your illness?"

"Yeah, but it's not like he did any researching into it when we first started dating me. He began.. looking into it a little after I lost my legs."

"So did you ever ask him why he dum- broke up with you?" He must have been trying not to use the word dump. Even though I had used it, he must've thought it would be too rude of him. Sweet boy. Leaf found a keeper. Or maybe it's Gary that found her even though she doesn't know it yet.

"He said, ' _Why didn't you explain to me earlier?! I never would've asked you out if I knew that was going to happen! People like you shouldn't get involved in relationships. There's no point in us going out or people like you falling in love. You're just going to die anyways._ '" I replied as quickly and as emotionlessly as possible.

"May would've pummeled that guy." Gary laughed light-heartedly, trying to thin out the thick atmosphere building up.

"Yeah. I was lucky to have found her in my first year of high school." Smiling gently to myself, my hand stopped touching the headphones and dropped into my lap. "Is that all?"

"Yeah. I guess I should get going now." He stood up and brushed his pants off after seeing May. I turned my head to see her waving her arms wildly and running to where we were.

"Wait!" I almost fell out of my chair reaching for him. "I have a question for you!"

"Hm?" Gary smiled at me, shoving his hands into the pockets of his pants.

"Why do you want to know so much about me?"

"Don't get the wrong idea." The boy flashed me a very familiar flirtatious grin. "I'm only trying to help Leafy understand her best friend."

"I'm not interested in you." I laughed, causing him to put on a dramatically hurt expression. He whirled around before running away, pretending to cry.

"Why won't you love me?!" Gary dashed off and down the hall towards the exit. With a loud clack and burst of sound, he slammed the doors open. I watched him until he was out of view and May was at my side once more.

"What took you so long?" Another yawn came out of my mouth as I gazed up at her.

"Sorry, I got sucked into helping the class rep run errands around the school." She shook her head. "What did you guys do?"

"Talked a little bit." I responded quietly.

"So I'm guessing you guys get along just fine? Was your talk nice? What did you talk about?" May bombarded me with questions.

"We get along. It was a very.. heart to heart chat. We just talked about.. things we liked and disliked." I hesitantly lied.

Even May didn't know about that blog post or about what happened in my part. She knew that I had an ex-boyfriend, but I just told her that he cheated on me. That girl wasn't afraid to rip apart anyone who hurt me. I knew that and I was very grateful, but still, sometimes May just lost control.

Leaf would be a safe person to talk to, but she'd probably end up moping about it or calling and telling May. Paul was of course, out of the question. And, I had only just recently met Drew. So far, Gary was the only one that I could actually freely talk to. For some reason I wasn't afraid of telling everything and for other odd reasons I trusted him. He didn't seem like the type of person to go around spreading rumors.

In all honesty, he was a nice guy. I'd actually consider going out with him if he didn't like Leaf, if I didn't have ALS, or if I actually felt some sort of romantic attraction towards him. I suppose I just happened to admire him. After all, there's a fine line between someone you like as a person and someone you share a strong bond with, right?

"Dawn?"

"Sorry, what?" Snapping out of my deep thoughts, I turned to look at May.

"Are you ready to go?" She cocked an eyebrow at me before laughing a little bit at what must have appeared to be my air-headed behavior.

"Mm." I nodded.

* * *

"Damn!"

Paul walked right into Gary who suddenly came flying out of the school building. He brought his hands up to his face which was currently searing in intense pain.

"Ouch!" The spiky-haired brunette groaned, also clutching his head.

"Watch where you're going!" He growled at Gary, standing up. Just as he was about to turn and walk away, Paul hesitantly stopped and offered him a hand up.

"What..?" Gary questioned, staring at the boy's hand as if it was an alien from outer space.

"I'm helping you up. Do you want help or do you want to sit there and cry?" He huffed, staring down at him.

"No... I'm just surprised." Taking Paul's hand, he stood up.

"I'm surprised too. Anyone would if some lunatic came dashing out and into them." The said person grumbled, crossing his arms.

"No, I mean I expected you to just turn and walk away. It's something you'd do, Paul." Gary laughed. There was only one person on earth with low respect for other people and purple hair.

"Well it's done." Paul rolled his eyes.

"I guess so." He sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

"...What is this?" The plum head bent over and picked up a folded up sheet of paper.

"What the- Wait!" Gary yelled, trying to take it away from him. However, Paul simply turned his back to him and began to unfold it. It must've fallen out of the pocket of his blazer. Mentally smacking himself for not tucking it away in a safer place, Gary heaved a sigh.

"Whose contact info is this..? Hold on a second, this is-"

"Dawn's." He finished for Paul, ripping the sheet of paper out of his hands.

"How did you get that?" Paul bristled, coal-black eyes narrowing. His posture seemed to grow a little tense and his face became even colder than it was before. Slightly intimidated, Gary licked his lips.

"She wrote it down and then gave it to me." Gary glared right back at him.

"Why?" He snapped.

"Why..?" Averting his eyes, Gary frowned. For both Dawn and May's sake, and for the sake of the get together, he was not about to tell Paul why. Paul Shinji, also about as well-known as him, would surely find out his address if he knew about tomorrow night.

"You heard me. Now, why the fuck did you get that?" Paul snarled, teeth grinding against each other.

"Why does it even matter? Chill out, dude!" Gary spat back, running his hands through his hair in stress.

"You don't need to know my reasons." His eyes warily scanned him, only adding onto the tensions.

"What is she? You're ex-girlfriend or something?" He shouted, whipping around and heading for his car. Suddenly, he heard the wild pounding of footsteps on the icy pavement of the parking lot. Gary flinched as a tremendous amount of weight was thrown into him, forcing him up against the hood of his brown and silver King Ranch. With a thud, he was pinned up against it. However, Gary kept his composure and simply glared straight back at Paul who was now looming over him.

"Oak, I swear if you've decided to play around with her.." Paul growled, tightening his grip on Gary's shirt.

"Jesus, dude! What the hell do you mean?!" Eyes ablaze, Gary choked as Paul roughly whipped him backwards before slamming him into the car.

"You know what I mean." He muttered in a low voice.

"No, Shinji. I really don't." Gary nearly screamed in rage. "Please enlighten me with your definition of ' _playing around_ '!"

"I know you like to play around with women. I swear, if you're trying to get in bed with her..." Paul trailed off, shivering at the thought of it.

"Mmm. What will you do if I fuck her? Screw her over a couple times?" The spiky haired brunette found a smirk creeping up and onto his face. His reaction was somewhat amusing and only made him want to torment Paul more. The mysterious relationship between Dawn and Paul was beginning to pique his interest and he didn't feel like waiting until tomorrow. "What will you do if I just grab her and kiss he-"

"You just shut the fucking hell up!" Losing it, Paul drew his fist back before smashing it right into his stomach.

"What's the matter?" Now Gary was very amused. A little bit of saliva trickled from his chin. He brought his hand up to wipe it away, refusing to look away from Paul. "You said you weren't dating."

"It's none of your business!" He bellowed.

"And what if it is? You don't own her."

"Don't make her a part of your little game." Paul seethed.

"But, what if I want her? What will you do then?" Gary replied, curiosity burning in his eyes.

"...She..belongs to me.." He mumbled silently.

"Hm? Sorry, Shinji, but you've got to speak up a little bit." Smiling, Gary folded his arms as Paul's grip on him slackened.

"Dawn is... only a friend.." Paul spat under his breath, causing Gary to frown. The brunette slipped out of his grasp and backed up a couple feet. Now facing him directly, Gary stared at Paul with his piercing emerald-green orbs. They were slowly filling with confidence over the other boy.

"A little louder, please." He grinned. "Or I just might steal her virginity, if she still has it."

"Keep your god damn claws off her chastity." His coal-black eyes seared with a terrifyingly calm anger.

"Why? It's not yours, is it?"

"And it'll never be yours either."

"You don't want to sleep with her?" Gary held his smile even though the topic was making him uneasy. "Dawn is a cute girl. One could even say she's hot if you look at her the right way."

"Of course I'd want to sleep with her. Every guy would want to take a girl like that even if she has little to no sex appeal." Paul snorted.

"So what's stopping you?" He responded, challenge in his voice.

"She'd hate me to the moon and back. Hell, she already does. I'd be the only one enjoying it." Rolling his eyes off to the side, the plum head shoved his hands into his pockets. About an hour and a half had passed since the high school had let out. But it wasn't like Paul had anywhere special to go. He could argue all day if he really wanted to. "In fact, she might just break down sobbing."

"She doesn't hate you... that much." Gary frowned a little at this.

"How would you know?" Paul snorted.

"I just have a gut-feeling." He rolled his eyes back at him. "Anyways, you never answered me."

"Hn..?"

"What will you do if I want her? What will you do if she wants me back?" The words were foreign on Gary's tongue. Dawn was admittedly attractive, but she wasn't his type. His on and off friendship with Leaf got him going. Quickly, he shook the thought away from his head and focused in on the current moment. This was the time for Dawn and Paul, not Leaf.

"Say that again, horny bastard." Paul's eyes narrowed.

"I will once you answer me."

"It's none of your busi-"

"Cut that shit out!" Gary snapped.

"It's really not-"

"Fucking answer the question already!"

"Fuck it!"

"What was that?!"

"Keep your filthy hands away. If anything, she's **mine!"**

* * *

 **Lovely mine chapter 3 got cut short a couple thousand words.**

 **So sorry if it wasn't the 15k that I had promised. Longer chapters are hard to write when there's so many good cliffhangers.**

 **Anyways, if you didn't understand what just happened, Gary has NO interest in Dawn. He simply became skeptical of Dawn's relationship with Paul and decided to test it.**

 **EXPLANATION OF THE SCHOOL GROUNDS:**

 _ **The school is of course, composed of four parts. North, South, East, and West. In the north are the lobby, office, stairs, and cafeteria. The South is pretty much the entrance, parking lot, separating hallway, and pretty much school grounds. The first class of Dawn's day with Leaf, Gary, Drew, and May takes place in the West side of the building. There are a series of classrooms for different subjects and electives in both the East and the West side.**_

 _ **There are multiple different classes due to the large amount of students in the school. So the day is spread all about. Dawn just so happens to have all her classes on the West side while Paul has his on the East. May, Dawn, Drew, and Gary have classes going back and forth between the East and the West. So obviously, they would know a whole lot about how Paul acts when he's not around Dawn.**_

 _ **The gym and the pool are connected to the back of the school. The doors to them are next to the lobby so they go out and behind the East and the West wings. However, they are in front of the cafeteria which can be entered if you walk past the lobby. In front of the lobby are two large stair cases that go up on both sides and up to the second floor. Right when you get up onto the second floor, there's a nurses office. Aside from that, there are two large hallways that lead to both the West and the East wings. The high school is made up of three floors and a roof which can be accessed by students.**_

 _ **Behind the school there's a football field, soccer field, baseball field, and track field. Yes, that's a whole lot of fields, but the school is REALLY big. That's one of the reasons why having students clear out at the end of the day is important for scenes and why the trip through the halls and to class is so long for Dawn.**_

 _ **I don't really know if you guys can imagine that, but if you can, that's great. I just wanted to give a general idea of what the school building looks like and why we pretty much never see Paul moving around the school during the day. The only time I will ever do that is when I'm writing from another character's perspective or if Paul just so happens to be running errands or something.**_

 _ **The ending scene took place in the parking lot as I mentioned Gary running out the building after talking to Dawn and to his car where he runs into Paul.**_

 _ **We now know that Dawn was depressed and tormented in middle school and we also know that she had a boyfriend if you didn't catch that in the first or second chapter when Paul asked about it and she said she didn't want to talk about it.**_

 **YOUR POSSIBLE QUESTIONS? (Q/A):**

 **Why did Dawn decide to tell Gary of all people these things?**

 _If you didn't catch it, Dawn was afraid to tell anyone. May would overreact and get mad or emotional to the point where she may hurt someone. Leaf would worry too much and become grim while there's the possibility that she may end up telling May. Paul was definitely out of the question as her feelings and emotions became mixed up and uncomfortable around him after he kissed her. And Drew... was in the hospital and practically a total stranger to her. Gary was probably the friendliest and the best at keeping secrets so she decided to risk telling him._

 **Why did Gary get all up in Paul's face like that?**

 _He was curious about his relationship with Dawn._

 **Why did he start acting like a sexual predator or something?**

 _It was to lure out Paul's genuine feelings towards Dawn._

 **What exactly were the headphones that May gave Dawn?**

 _It was sort of obvious, but the headphones were soundproofing. They're sort of like the things that builders, carpenters, etc wear when they're trying to block out the noise of loud machines._

 **Will Dawn make any future posts on her blog? Will we be able to read them?**

 _Yes. Her blog is actually a very important part of Lovely Mine. You'll just have to read on to discover why._

 **Why do you only write from when the school day begins and when it ends?**

 _...I feel you guys will get bored if I write out the entire day._

 **Leaf's family and problems?**

 _Leaf's family was very wealthy and successful. However, when her family began to lose funds to her father's business competitor, she made a vow to become even more studious than she already was. Why? To earn a scholarship so she wouldn't become a burden to her parents who don't seem to care much about her. Hint. Hint. This will affect the future chapters._

 **A blizzard in February? Is that possible?**

 _Global warming, people. Global warming._

 **Are there going to be more ships featured?**

 _Mmm... I feel that the closest you're going to get to different ships are brief hints or maybe even side stories related to Oldrivalshipping._

 **... If you've got any questions, feel free to ask and I'll answer them c: These are just things I figured would be nice to know or that you may be wondering yourself!**

 **That's about it for now!**

 **Until next time,**

 **feel free to leave a review or something! It makes me smile,**

 **~Bear**


	4. Our Get-Together

**Chapter 4 is right here c:!**

 **My birthday was on February 11th... I'm 13 now... yaay c: I started Chapter 4 on February 13th, so this is really REALLY late though xD I'm in eighth grade now and won't have as much time to write. So please be patient! I need to get Lovely Mine Chapter 5 written, which will take some time. And then AFTER that, I have to send it to my collaboration partner/editor to check.**

 **Uhuhuhuuu. I also have quite a few things I need to be working on after this so... wish me luck ^-^!**

 **Once again, I didn't feel like writing anything related to Survival of the Fittest.. I 'dunno, I'm getting bored with it. But, I'll try to keep adding chapters to that.**

 **Anyways, I think that writing will end up being the last thing on my mind. Lately I just haven't been feeling into it... although, I do enjoy writing Lovely Mine despite all the researching I have to do on different things. Medical-related things are more complicated than I expected.**

 _ **Gratitude/Comments:**_

 **Tropicallight, as usual, thanks for reading and reviewing! I'm glad to have you supporting both of my fanfictions ^-^!**

 **Doodlefish0, thank you! I'll keep working at it~!**

 **Guest, once again, thanks for reading and reviewing! I'm really glad you liked the recent chapter of Lovely Mine! I hope I'm not making Leaf too irritating in this chapter... I can tell that you like her a lot. So, just remember that Leaf's personality changes drastically around Gary. Thanks again c:**

 **Ghost, thanks for your input, I'll be trying my best to slow everything down.**

 **QUEENSPELLER67, thanks for reading and reviewing multiple times! I really appreciate it!**

 **And also, thank you to the MANY people who reviewed after these ones! Thank you for supporting Lovely Mine and asking me to update soon even though I haven't been the most active person in the world!**

 **That's it for now! I love drama... so if you guys don't, then you should probably just take a cookie and leave ^ ^' cause there'll be a lot of drama uhuhuu. For now, at least.**

 **Onto the story!**

* * *

 _Disclaimer:*_

 _I don't own Pokemon_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 4:**_ _Our Get-Together_

"It's kind of big..."

Dawn stared wide-eyed up at the large house in front of her. The light brown deck seemed almost endless and its two massive light blue doors stood tall and proud. Many white windows decorated the red brick walls while the dark gray roof loomed over her.

"Yeah. Gary's sort of rich." May shrugged, wheeling her over to the steps of the deck. With a grunt, she grabbed ahold of the handles of Dawn's wheelchair.

"Need some help, June-bug?" A slightly nasally voice came from behind the two girls. She glanced over her shoulder before snorting and continuing to struggle. The brunette pursed her lips, stepping back to think.

"Kermit, I swear I'll break your nose again." Rolling her eyes, May locked eyes with him, childishly sticking out her tongue. "But I do need you to carry Dawn into the house or something so I can fold up her wheelchair."

"You don't have to, Piggy. It's clearly still broken from the first time." Drew flipped his hair. He walked right up the steps to the top of the porch before turning around. His amused gaze traveled down to the two.

"Hey, get down here and help me with her!" May shouted, locking eyes with him.

"Eh? Do I really have to?" Drew laughed. He did not like the idea of just obeying whatever the brunette says.

"Just pick her up!"

"Alright, alright...!" With a scowl, he made his way down the steps of the porch and crouched in front of Dawn's wheelchair.

"Idiot!" May roughly smacked the back of Drew's head.

"Ouch! What was that for?" Drew quickly stood up and glared back at her.

"A piggyback ride won't work! She can't move her arm or legs, you moronic asshole! How the crap do you expect her to not fall off?" she snapped in response.

"Well, how do you expect me to carry a sixteen year old high school student?" he grumbled, tapping his foot impatiently.

"Carry her bridal style." May replied, also tapping her foot. She tried to make the sounds of her tapping louder just to irk him off and by the look on his face, it was working.

"Can't I just fireman carry her?" Drew groaned.

"You're terrible! Just pick her up, you damned frog!" May snarled.

"L–Language, May!" Dawn gently pulled at her hoodie to get her attention.

"Jesus!" Drew growled, scooping Dawn up in his arms before beginning to walk up the steps. "You're... actually really light."

"Thank you...?" Dawn laughed awkwardly.

"Yeah. Totally light, unlike Miss Piggy over there." Drew commented, stopping at the top of the steps. He could feel her tense up even more than before when he shifted her in his arms. Noticing this, Drew could only wonder if his arms were bony or if his hands had been cold. However, he simply shrugged off the thoughts and turned around to look down at May.

"Cut it, jerk!" May hissed, pulling off the seating cushion on the wheelchair and setting it aside. She then stormed off to the car she had borrowed from her mother for the day to get a toolkit.

"Where are you going?! What happened to Kermit?" Drew called after her.

"Kermit? Piggy? Are those like your pet names for each other?" Leaf grinned, stepping out of her car. She had come with her mother, who wore a stony, emotionless expression on her face as usual. The long haired brunette mumbled a 'thank you'. Her face darkened for a brief second as the woman wordlessly reached over and slammed the passenger door shut. In a matter of seconds, the engine of the car started up. Leaf watched quietly for a few moments as the vehicle drove right out of sight.

"They aren't pet names." Flipping his hair again, Drew casually replied. "Why would I nickname the girl who broke my damn nose? It hurts like hell, you know."

"Please, the most you could get from the back of May's head is a heavy bruise." Gary's voice came along with the squeak and the loud click of doors opening. There he stood, in the doorway of his front doors.

"You're kidding me? It doesn't take a sumo-wrestler to break someone's beautiful face!" Drew frowned, gently touching the large white cast traveling from the middle of his eyebrows and all the way down the bridge of his nose to the very tip.

"Hey Leaf!" May cheerfully greeted, slamming the trunk of the car shut and rushing back to the wheelchair, toolbox in hand. As soon as she arrived back at the bottom of the porch stairs, she began removing the bolts which attached the headrest to the chair.

"Hey May!" Leaf greeted back just as cheerfully, walking over to her brunette-haired friend. "Do you need help?"

"Nope, just give me a couple minutes. After this, I need to fold everything up and put the headrest and stuff somewhere safe. It won't take long, but Gary, can I put Dawn's stuff by your front door?" May inquired, not bothering to look up as she unscrewed the last bolt and set the headrest down next to the cushion. Quickly, she put the bolts into her toolbox and packed up her Allen keys.

"Sure you can." Gary smiled and nodded.

"Wow, you're fast, May." Leaf gasped.

"I practiced a whole lot after I had first met Dawn." She shrugged, pulling the frame of the wheelchair inwards. May then motioned for Leaf to pick up the seat cushion, headrest, toolbox, and the Velcro bag that Dawn always had attached to her wheelchair.

"Leafy, you need some help?" Gary called, cocking an eyebrow as the said girl picked up the headrest and seat cushion.

Leaf rolled her eyes at the nickname and moved up the stairs to stand by Drew. "I guess so. Will you grab her bag and May's tools?"

"Actually, Gary, I need help with the wheelchair." May slowly mumbled.

"Okay. I'll leave Leaf to that other stuff." He motioned towards the bag and the box of tools. Leaf nodded, putting everything down on the deck before going back down the steps.

"Just help me lift the wheelchair up, so it doesn't touch the steps." May ordered.

"Yes, ma'am." Gary laughed lightheartedly, walking down the steps to help May.

By the time they made it up the steps of the deck, Leaf had gotten everything together just outside the door. Wheelchair parts and all.

Gary was the last to trudge up the steps, but after setting the wheelchair down, he did not stop near the group. Instead, he walked up to the front door of his house, ushering his guests inside with the gesture of his hand.

"Alright, hurry up and get in my house. It's cold out." Gary said, helping May move the folded chair into the house and down the long hallway to a spot in the corner near the stairs where it could safely remain until the evening was over. There were two stair cases, one going up, and next to it, one going straight down. Both looked very lengthy, much to Drew and Dawn's despair. Looking down, it appeared that the bottom stairs led to another hallway.

Gary looked at the four before turning and walking down the stairs and into his basement. He headed right down the hallway and in to a very large and roomy area. The walls were light gray and nicely polished wooden boards covered the floor beneath their feet. A fairly large flat screen TV, two dark green couches, and a recliner were there along with a coffee table. There were two lime green beanie bags sprawled out on the ground. Video games of all sorts were sloppily stacked next to the TV and multiple different game consoles were tucked into the black television stand. In every corner of the room, there were black speakers hooked up. Additionally, there were quite a few movie posters which Gary had framed and hung around his walls.

"Well, this is harder than I thought it'd be." Drew grunted, stepping carefully down the stairs.

"May..." Dawn whimpered.

"I know you don't like it, but try to hold out just a bit longer." May sighed, beginning to walk down the stairs behind them.

"Be careful, Drew." Leaf warned upon hearing a loud thud. The sound was result of Drew's body weight being shifted onto one foot as he took another step.

"I'll kill you if you trip." May frowned.

"I know, I know!" he snapped, moving quickly down the last few steps. Drew stared down the well-lit hallway before walking into the large hangout. As carefully as possible, he set Dawn down in the recliner. He could hear May's thundering footsteps as she ran down to meet her friend, Leaf dashing right after her and into the room.

"You've got a pretty sweet place." Drew flopped down onto the couch directly in front of the TV. "I wish I had a setup like this."

"Whoa!" Gary exclaimed, strolling over to the recliner. "Dawn, you're so tiny!"

"Is that a bad thing?" She looked up at him, cocking an eyebrow.

"No, no! It's just that it's kind of cute how you look like a little kid in my huge recliner." Gary laughed.

Dawn sputtered for a moment. "L-Like a little kid?!"

"Yeah! Drew, she's really light, right?" He grinned.

"Mmhm. What about it?" Drew replied, flexing his arms.

"I never realized how small your body frame is." He chuckled, picking her up and out of the chair. "Come here, let me try something."

"H-Hey!" Clearly uncomfortable, the girl flailed her good arm about as his hands made contact with her.

"Stop! Put her down, Gary!" Leaf suddenly burst out, sprinting across the room over to them.

"You want me to play with you too, Leaf?" He smiled at her.

"Gary! Stop, stop!" Leaf frowned as Gary playfully swung a panicking Dawn around in his arms.

"Why? We're just having a little fun." He laughed, whirling around before carefully setting the petite girl onto the couch to the right of the TV and next to the other couch. Noticing Dawn's presence suddenly beside him, Drew scooted over, creating a little bit more room for her.

"Well, don't do that with Dawn!" She scowled even more, her jade-green eyes rising from the usually calm and gentle blanket which covers them.

"With Dawn?" Drew cocked both of his eyebrows and smiled.

Meanwhile, May quietly stumbled over and threw herself down and onto the space on the couch next to Drew. Her hands found a pillow, which she grabbed and stuffed her face into. An incredibly muffled yet somewhat loud noise was let out as May screamed loudly into the pillow.

"I meant to Dawn." Leaf blushed slightly before smacking Gary roughly on the back of the head.

"Hot and cold." Drew snorted, crossing his legs.

"What's wrong May?" Leaf questioned.

"It's just that you're all nuts. Keep your careless, clumsy hands off her." May frowned, looking up from the pillow. She glared especially at Gary this time.

"I'd appreciate it if you don't just freely touch me like that." Dawn spoke up, breathing heavily. "Or at least give me a warning..."

"Yeah. Gary, her lungs aren't in the most stable condition. She only recently had surgery." Leaf cleared her flushed face, slapping on a more serious one. Her eyebrows furrowed together in worry as she walked over and sat down on the second couch, which was empty.

"Ah–sorry about that..." Gary looked down at the ground, guilt flooding over his face. He felt even worse when Dawn continued to pant and catch her breath.

"And what if you had dropped her? She's fragile you know! Dawn can't even brace herself for landing either!" May growled at him.

"O-Oh..." Gary looked down at his feet.

"It's fine." Dawn placed her hand over her heart, feeling it pound from within her chest. Slowly, she felt it slow to a steady pace. "I was just surprised. It's been a long time since anyone has done that with me."

For a moment, her entire body froze up. Her dad was the only person who had ever done that. Swinging her around, laughing while humming a little tune to himself. He used to play with her all the time, talk with her every second of every day. But now, he was gone. Where had he gone? Dawn had no clue. And she was not about to waste time thinking about it or pitying herself over it. He was gone. That was a fact. She can't change the past no matter how much she wants to, but that's alright. It's not like her to dwell upon something that can't be helped anyways.

"So, we were called here to discuss Dawn's life?" Leaf questioned, gently tapping the said girl on the shoulder, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Sort of, but it's really just a chill day, you know?" Gary laughed, reverting to his usual self. The spiky-haired brunette sunk into one of his dark green beanie bags. He was right at the foot of where Leaf was sitting on the second couch.

"Well, I think there are many things that we want to know." Drew mumbled, reaching up and touching his nose cast. His fingers ran along it, feeling the roughness.

"There are?" Dawn pursed her lips again. Her gaze hesitantly flickered to her right, over to where he sat, right next to May, who no longer had her face stuffed in a pillow.

"But first, I'm going to move you over next to Leaf." May said, cutting Drew off before he could speak. She picked Dawn up the best she could and moved her over to the second couch, which was not too far away, with all of her strength. The brunette then stepped aside so that Leaf could help Dawn settle in, moving back to her spot on the couch in front of the television and lying down. She once again stuffed her face into the (same) pillow. Her legs crossed over Drew's lap and her feet rested on the armrest of the couch.

"Why'd you move her?" Leaf inquired, adjusting Dawn's legs into a more comfortable position.

"I didn't want her to get in the way of my footrest and I." May replied with a laugh.

"Mhmm. Anyways, what is Paul Shinji like when you two are alone?" Drew almost growled.

"I'm always answering questions..." Dawn muttered under her breath. "Why the mean tone?" she asked in response.

"Paul Shinji is... not exactly known for being the nicest guy on Earth. He's incredibly rude and somewhat violent towards both men and women and at school, he gives off a very anti-social, cold aura." Drew shook his head.

"I'd like to know what that bastard is like too." May quickly lifted her head from her pillow, resting her chin on it. Her eyes narrowed and grew icy, ready to snap at any minute.

"Why don't we all calm down and have a drink or something first?" Gary suggested awkwardly. "I've got soda, tea, lemonade, water, all sorts of stuff."

"I want to know about Shinji before we do anything!" Drew sighed.

"Yeah. Dawn, how do you know he's not some bitter creep trying to rape you or–Ow!" May's malice-filled tone dropped as Drew reached his hand over and smacked her shoulder.

"You didn't have to add that part," he growled, pointing over to Dawn, who's face grew stony.

"I get that you guys are looking out for me and everything, but I can handle my own problems. Paul is... very sweet and kind to me when we're alone! He's my friend! He won't do anything... strange to me!" Dawn shifted in her seat, golden eyes glaring at both May and Drew.

"Friend... right." May snorted, rolling her eyes.

"He doesn't still have a possessive attitude or temper, Dawn?" Drew inquired.

"He does, but he means well," she replied, face relaxing. Her usual small smile and sparkling eyes returned much to Leaf and Gary's relief.

"Possessive attitude and temper?" Leaf tilted her head to the side, playfully and softly kicking the back of Gary's head. Like everyone else, she had already taken her shoes off and was now in plain white socks.

"When that guy wants something, he gets real touchy. He's also very easy to provoke." Gary nodded, whipping around and grabbing Leaf's ankles. She squeaked as he pulled her down off the couch before getting up and sitting down in the spot on the couch next to Dawn.

"Wants something? Like what?" Dawn drew circles on her right hand with the index finger of her left hand.

"A girl. Believe it or not, that guy is straight and he actually does show interest in women." Gary chuckled, folding his arms and shoving Leaf back down and into the beanie bag whenever she tried to get up to yank him off the couch.

"A girl...? Who?" May snorted, laughing mentally at the thought of Paul actually liking someone.

"Oh? Where?" Drew grinned from ear to ear. The topic of romance interests almost everyone... especially Drew Hayden.

"We went to the same middle school. Would you like to hear the story? It's kind of short." Gary smiled and sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

"Sure..." Dawn pursed her lips together, watching as Leaf huffed and gave up, falling into the beanie bag.

"So, we were in middle school, and there was this really cute girl who was nice to everyone, even Paul," he began before pausing. "Did I mention that Paul's really into cute little good girls? It's kind of weird given his overall personality, right?"

"That's his type? Weird. If you're going to go for a girl, go for one that's sexy and has both a nice ass and tit—"

"Shut up." May growled, drawing her foot back and kicking Drew in the stomach as hard as she could. While he was leaning over, clutching his guts, she sat up.

The brunette scooted to the other end of the couch, away from him. Dawn noticed that she had on black and red soccer shorts with a white hoodie. She also wore a deep red T-shirt with a thin black collar.

"I can see Paul dating someone really girly. It happens all the time in books." Leaf shrugged, combing through her hair with her fingers before beginning to braid a lock of it. Dawn stared at her for a good second. She was wearing a light blue tank top with ruffles on it and a black and light gray mini skirt. White socks covered her calves and she wore two turquoise hair clips in her hair, which pinned her bangs back to the side of her face.

"In books?" Drew wheezed, still suffering from the abuse May had given him. Dawn looked at the said boy. He, like Gary, wore casual, loose black jeans. However, he had a green, black, and white striped dress shirt on.

Her eyes flickered over to Gary, who wore a white, red, and dark purple tank-top on his body along with a necklace that seemed to have a small wooden carving of an Umbreon. The rings were colored in with a very faint pale yellow paint.

Dawn noticed that Gary almost always had something wooden with him. He must have a real talent for carving as the pendent was clean and visibly well-made. The phone case that she had seen him pull out yesterday was also smooth and almost looked professionally done.

"Anyways...?" Dawn murmured, fiddling with the hem of her dress. She looked down at her own attire. Of course, her mother had worked hard to make sure she had the casual clothing of a typical teenage girl. Dawn had to admit, her mother had a great taste when it came to fashion. However, it would be nice if she could for once choose what to wear.

Her mother almost never took her out and about. The stares they received from the strangers walking down the streets must be too much for her. Sometimes, Dawn wondered if her mother was ashamed to let people see her with her. For her mother, the public just wasn't the best place to be. In fact, her mother would probably prefer it if she spent every day shut away.

Going out to buy clothes was something she couldn't do. The only thing she could do was make specific requests for clothing. Maybe one day Paul would take her out again...

"So," May said with a yawn, drawing Dawn from her thoughts. "What about this nice girl?"

"Huh? Oh, right! So, everyone liked this girl. I liked her a whole lot back then too." Gary stretched his arms in the air before continuing. He felt Leaf's burning gaze on him, which seemed to make him a bit stiff. "One day, Paul caught me flirting with her."

"Shit man, that couldn't have ended well." Drew winced.

"You're damn right it didn't." Gary laughed a little, shaking his head back and forth.

"What do you mean?" Dawn quietly inquired.

"He slammed me against one of the lockers in the hallway and began beating me up right in front of her. I swear, my head was bloody as hell and I got a concussion," he replied, causing Dawn to gasp.

"How did the girl react? Did she beat him up in response?" May asked. A small smirk was slowly creeping up and onto her face.

"That probably would have been better than what really happened. She agreed to go out with me in front of him, after mercilessly taking my side and cursing him out. From then on, until the end of eighth grade, she showed absolute hatred and disgust towards him and him only." Gary folded his arms, pity in his eyes.

"Ouch..." May mumbled silently.

"Yeesh–that's got to hurt. Is that why he hates you?" Drew commented, raising his eyebrows once more.

"I guess so."

"What about the girl? Did he grow to hate the girl?" Leaf leaned forward in the beanie bag she sat in. Her shining jade-eyes gazed right up at Gary, filling up with curiosity.

"Surprisingly, no." Gary pursed his lips, preparing to answer the question he knew was bound to come rolling after his response.

"Why?" May questioned skeptically, asking the question that Gary mentally prepared himself for. He decided that there was no point in hiding it; after all, Paul Shinji was no person he'd keep secrets for.

"Before middle school ended, some things happened. Her love got boring after a week, so I two-timed her with another really hot girl. Paul found out before she did and beat me up again," he answered. "But in my defense, I don't like being in committed relationships with two-faced bitches that are after my money."

"You get beat up a lot, don't you? No matter how much money you've got." Drew chuckled, looking at both May and Leaf. "All the time."

"It's more Leaf than me. I just verbally abuse him." May shrugged, elbowing his side.

"I don't beat him up!" Leaf frowned. "Right, Gary?"

"I don't know about that, Leafy..." He flashed her a wry expression before laughing yet again. "Anyways, the girl caught him beating me up and gave him another earful. The things that she said to him actually made me feel a little bad that I didn't defend him or anything..."

"So, you just stood there and let him get his heart torn apart?!" Dawn burst out, nearly screaming. As soon as the last word had left her mouth, she slammed her good left fist down on the coffee table in front of her with a loud bang. Because of her outburst, every pair of eyes in the room darted over and locked on her.

"I doubt he was really torn apar–"

"Shut the hell up, May!" The petite girl flashed a murderous glare over to her friend.

"O-Oh!" Sitting back in her seat, May's face paled. Never had Dawn directed her anger towards her. Realizing this, Dawn quickly calmed down, placing her hand back in her lap and leaning backwards. She was heavily breathing once more, having gotten all riled up again.

"I'm sorry... You know I love you, right?" Dawn stared at May with a pleading look on her face.

"I–I guess..." Still in shock, the said girl took a deep breath.

"As for you," She glared menacingly over at Gary, eyes growing colder by the second. "No wonder Paul's the way he is now. Don't act like he doesn't have a good reason to dislike you."

"Are you saying you hate me too?" Gary calmly asked, cocking an eyebrow. Despite the relaxed facade he put on, the spiky-haired brunette was terrified on the inside. Seeing someone who smiled and was usually very gentle get mad was scary.

"No, that's not what I meant..." Dawn's eyes softened and returned to their usual pacifying, patient look. "I just don't want you to keep talking like Paul is the only one at fault..."

"Since when were you two best friends?" Drew growled, not liking the idea of Paul possibly becoming a part of their circle of friends.

"Leaf and May are my best friends. He's just a friend because I wanted him to be." Dawn shot back. She was frustrated with the way everyone was acting.

"How did Paul react to being on the receiving end of hatred again?" Leaf curiously directed the conversation back to the story.

"We all know that Paul has a temper. He probably got pissed, end of story." May muttered, playing with the bandana wrapped around her wrist.

"Not exactly." Gary pursed his lips before staring down into his lap.

"What do you mean?" Dawn yawned, rubbing her eyes.

"He let go of me and left. But he didn't run or anything, he just sort of walked out. After that, he refused to speak to, or make eye-contact with either of us." Gary scratched the back of his head. "I 'dunno what came over that guy."

"Well, sucks to be him." Drew commented.

"Drew." May shot him a disapproving look before elbowing him again.

"Can we do something other than talk about Paul?" Leaf sighed impatiently, sinking even further into the dark green beanie bag that she rested in.

Gary shrugged. "Sure, I just thought Dawn would want to know this stuff."

"So... What should we do?" May groaned in boredom.

"Mmm... I'll go get some drinks and then we can figure something fun out." Drew stood up and looked over to Gary. "Where's the pop and shit?"

"In the mini-fridge down the hall a couple doors," he replied, jabbing the back of Leaf's head with his big toe repeatedly.

"You guys don't have filters at all." Dawn shook her head.

"Neither do you." May snorted. A grin spread across her face.

"I only swear when necessary," she reasoned.

"Like when getting mad at me?" Her friend laughed.

"You know I didn't mean to lash out!" Dawn pouted.

"I know, I know." May put her hands up, surrendering to her.

"Can I have my spot back?" Leaf glared up at Gary, who was still sitting on the couch next to Dawn.

"Nope, there's no room." He spread his limbs across his half, leaving a good amount of space for Dawn.

"Gary, seriously." She let out an exasperated sigh.

"Look, I'm not moving." Gary ran his hand through his hair before letting both of his arms rest behind his head and on the nape of his neck.

"Well, I'm not going to make Dawn move!" Leaf folded her arms. "Your beanie bag gets really uncomfortable after a while."

"So? It's not my problem." Once more, Gary laughed carelessly.

"I can move if you want." Dawn suggested, looking to May to help her up.

"No, I want to sit by you, not Gary." She stuck her tongue out at him before looking to Dawn with hopeful eyes.

"Leaf, I don't think he's going to move." Dawn shook her head, smiling a little.

"He better move!" Brushing off her clothing, Leaf stood up. Hands on her hips, she glared down at Gary.

He rolled his eyes. "And what are you going to do if I don't?"

"He's probably too fat to be picked up. What are you even going to do?" May commented, hugging the pillow which she had been laying her head on earlier.

"He's not too fat... He's just a little fat." Dawn said, eyeing Gary up and down.

"There's actually nothing much I can do." Leaf rolled her shoulders before turning around, back to Gary.

"B-B-But most of it is muscle!" he exclaimed.

"Either way, it doesn't matter," she huffed. Leaf threw herself backwards and down onto him.

"What the fuck?!" Gary wheezed, hands falling from his neck and onto Leaf's thighs upon the sudden impact. He shifted from underneath her, face practically red as he tried to push her off. But, for a moment he stopped moving around and took the chance to run his hands over the smooth, soft flesh of her thighs. They were small underneath his hands and in a way, reminded him of a child's legs.

"Stupid pervert!" Leaf growled, prying his hands off her thighs before drawing herself backwards and body slamming him. Her face was bright red. She successfully knocked the wind out of Gary, who was now gasping for air.

"Shit, you're heavy!" The spiky-haired brunette wheezed, roughly grabbing the petite-framed girl by the shoulders and wildly shaking her back and forth.

"Wha-! I'm not heavy, I'm strong!" she shouted. "May, help me!"

"I would... But I don't want to get kicked out of Gary's place." May shrugged. "Besides, you two look like you're having fun."

"Oh, right. I have the power to kick you all out." Gary said, after he had stopped shaking Leaf and experienced a brief moment of realization. A wide grin spread across his face.

"Can you just get up?" Leaf whined, jade-green eyes still sparkling with irritation and the lingering shock of being suddenly jolted around. "I'll get off you if you let me have my spot back."

"Well, if it bothers you that much..." He snorted, exchanging amused looks with Dawn before looking back at her.

"Thank you!" Leaf exclaimed.

Just as she was about to get up, Gary wrapped his arms around her. He yanked her down and back onto his lap before leaning in close to her face, which heated up and flushed even more. Smirking, he playfully nipped at her ear causing Leaf to jump in surprise and flail her arms in an attempt to push him away.

"Getting sexy in here..." Dawn murmured. In a way, this was like payback for the time when Leaf just watched as Paul kissed her back at the cafe.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Leaf began thrashing her limbs about, trying to kick and beat at Gary.

"It's like you're actually dating." May commented, eyeing the two up and down.

"Hm? I'd date Leafy if she'd just let me." Gary teased. "A cute girl like her is just my typ- mmph!"

"I'll never go out with a player and womanizer like him." Leaf coughed, standing up and looking back down at Gary, who was in the fetal position on the couch. He had fallen closer to Dawn, who was staring wide-eyed at him.

Dawn's gaze travelled between Leaf and the boy on the couch. The same surprised and humored look crossed both her and May's faces before the latter burst out laughing.

"Fnnn..." Gary groaned in pain and agony, rolling slightly back and forth.

"Serves you right." Leaf pushed away all the guilt that was beginning to rise up from within her and grabbed ahold of Dawn.

"What are you doing?" Dawn gasped as Leaf just barely managed to pick her up. She was carried over to the couch that May was sitting on and placed in the space on her friend's right side.

"There. Now, scoot over." Leaf prodded May before flopping down and onto the space on May's left. She yawned and leaned back into the soft couch, crossing her arms. The girl seemed to be very proud of herself.

"Settled in?" May laughed again, readjusting Dawn and her limbs, which were practically thrown about by Leaf.

"Sorry, Dawn. I just didn't want you to get molested by that perverted playboy." Looking over, the said girl flashed Dawn an apologetic look as she rubbed the spot on her ear where Gary had nipped her.

"But... Leafy, now I'm... lonely...!" Gary jokingly whined.

"It's fine! I just didn't expect it, you know?" Once again calming down and slowing her breathing to a steady pace, Dawn brushed herself off with her left hand.

"What's going on here?" With the sound of ice cubes rattling lightly, Drew strolled in the room. In his arms was a coal-black metal tray, which had several empty glasses, a few liters of soda, and a large pitcher of pink lemonade on it.

"Gary was being a pervert, so I crushed his baby-machine." Leaf grinned sheepishly.

"Well, what goes around comes around. Leaf, that won't feel too good inside you." Drew grinned right back and set the tray down on the coffee table. He then took his seat next to Gary, who was still rolling back and forth.

"W-What?" She blushed furiously before biting her lip and grabbing May's pillow out of her arms.

May cocked both of her eyebrows in amusement. "Need to scream?"

Dawn muffled a giggle, watching as a low, faint shriek erupted from Leaf's direction, pillow successfully blocking most of her sound.

"Careful, Leafy... If... If you scream too loud..." Gary wheezed, beginning to recover. Slowly, he sat up and moved over, creating more space for Drew to sit on the couch.

"Mm?" Leaf glared upon hearing her nickname and lifted her face from the pillow.

"Gary, don't say it." Dawn warned.

"Say what?" May whispered to her.

"Nn... The neighbors..." He still held his crotch, expression twisted and contorted in lingering pain.

"The neighbors?" May questioned, looking over to Drew, who was laughing right next to him. He was leaning over and clutching his sides, laughing so hard it was silent and nothing came out.

"What about the neighbors?" Leaf grumbled, crossing her arms over the pillow and hugging it to her chest.

"The... The neighbors will think... I'm raping you..." Gary began to laugh slowly.

"Gary?" Leaf said the spiky-haired brunette's name in a tone filled with menace.

"Y–Yes... My love?" he answered in a teasing tone.

"I'm going to murder you!" she screamed angrily, throwing the pillow at his head as hard as she could. He jerked back and into the couch with a grunt.

"Has she always been this loud and angry?" Drew snorted, grabbing the pillow and chucking it at May.

"No, Leaf only gets fired up when she's around Gary." Dawn shook her head, watching May intently. The brunette stood up and using both of her arms, threw it right back at Drew. She found herself staring at May's arms and legs, even when she had sat back down beside her. Pursing her lips, Dawn slowly allowed her gaze to travel down to her own legs and hands, which were placed neatly in her lap.

"Is that so? Well then, you two really should just go out already." Drew laughed, flipping his hair and picking up the pillow, which had fallen on the ground by his feet. He gently tossed it to Dawn, expecting her to catch it. However, just as she moved to grab it with her left hand, she stopped, spacing out. Drew flashed her an apologetic look as May quickly caught it and threw it over her shoulder.

"I'm not dating anyone right now." Leaf shook her head, trying not to look at Gary. He was still showing light signs of discomfort and his disappointed expression reminded her very much of an abused puppy.

"Can we not talk about love?" Dawn grumbled, content mood beginning to break away as the topic continued.

"Yeah. Kermit, give me some cherry cola." May picked up a glass off the coffee table.

"What's the magic word, May?" Drew snorted, unscrewing the cap off of the dark colored 2-liter bottle of cherry cola and pouring himself a glass.

"I'll end you," she snorted back, folding her arms.

"Nope. Here, Gary." He flipped his hair before pouring some cola into a second glass. As he was handing it off to Gary, who shakily took it from his hand, he looked right at May and childishly stuck his tongue out.

"P-P-Plea..."

"Please!" Dawn shouted, perking up and raising her hand into the air.

"Good, good." Drew smiled warmly, carefully setting the soda bottle in her lap.

"Here, May." She turned and gave it to her friend.

Drew facepalmed, then scowled. "Dang it, Dawn!"

"Thanks." May grinned, taking the bottle from her and pouring some cherry cola into her own glass.

"Oh! May, May!" Leaf snatched a glass off the table and held her cup up in the air. Turning to her left, May filled the cup before setting the almost empty soda bottle back on the coffee table.

"Don't you want any?" Gary looked at Dawn.

"No, I like drinks that are sweeter and less fizzy." She shook her head. Suddenly, her phone, which was right beside her on the armrest, began to vibrate.

"What should we do?" Leaf sighed, looking around the room. Dawn picked up her phone and turned her back to May. If she could get up, she would. The only two people who had her contact and weren't currently at Gary's were Paul and her mother. And she was definitely not going to risk the chances of May seeing a text from Paul.

"Video games?" Drew suggested.

"I only have four controllers. Someone will be left out." Gary shook his head. Drew groaned.

"We could always take turns, right?" May took a sip of her cola.

"We'd be all messed up and out of order." Leaf shook her head.

"That's all I can think of. I don't really have much else to do around here besides watching TV. Unless you guys come up with another game or something?" Gary also drank a bit of his soda.

"I want to play video games though..." Leaf sighed again.

"Truth or dare?" Gary suggested.

"Nah. Nothing weird like that. Dawn doesn't like that stuff." May rejected the idea.

"So, what are we going to do? Go out, maybe?" Gary grinned, looking over to Leaf. "Want to go out, Leafy?"

"No," she huffed. "It's too much work to get everything together and leave anyways."

"What would we have to pack?"

"Wheelchair and other stuff into the car." Leaf murmured quietly.

"Oh!" Gary smacked himself.

"I still like the idea of taking turns on the games." May shrugged.

"Eh? But then we'll be all over the place with deciding who plays next—"

"Look, Dawn can't even play. We could game if we really wanted to. We could do whatever we want, there's no use in having her hold us back from all these things." Drew growled bitterly and without much thought, rubbing his temples. He was still trying to process the back and forth group discussion.

Silence.

Dawn froze, slowly looking up. Her phone still vibrated continuously in her left hand, becoming the only sound in the dead silent room.

"I... I didn't mean..." Drew began, snapping out of his daze and realizing what he had just said.

"You fucking bastard!" May screamed. She slammed her glass of cherry cola down onto the coffee table with a bang and jumped to her feet. "You have no idea what she's going through!"

"She isn't holding us back! And even if she is, she can't help it!" Leaf joined in, eyes ablaze.

"I'm sorry! I wasn't thinking!" he shouted.

"No, Drew. You never think! I knew you were self-centered, but I didn't think you were this selfish!" May snarled.

"Stop!" Dawn yelled.

"Leave him alone, it was an accident." Gary sat up straighter, tensing up.

"Gary, are you seriously going to defend his heartless behavior?!" Leaf snapped, causing him to shrink back down and into the couch. If there was anything that Gary was afraid of, it was losing Leaf. He could tolerate her usual words, but even he knew when to back down for the sake of their friendship.

"I-It was uncalled for, but you guys don't have to overreact!" he argued nervously, eyes flickering from Leaf to Drew.

"He pretty much said that she's a hindrance to everything we do!" May roared. "Her handicap can't be helped!"

"Yeah–but it's true!" Drew growled in the heat of the moment, his blood pressure rising as he grew anxious.

"What the fuck did you just say?!" May slowly stalked over to the other couch, where Drew was sitting.

"Come on! It's mean, but we all know that she can't do a whole lot with one hand! The only thing she can do is talk!" Drew argued. It wasn't fair. They couldn't do anything fun because of one person. Of course, he knew it was selfish of him to think this way, but being selfish is sometimes okay, right? He doesn't always have to be thinking of someone else, right?

"I'll kill you!" May screamed loudly, snatching up the collar of his shirt. She yanked him upwards and onto his feet, eyes burning with intense rage. This was her best friend he was trashing. Right in front of her, too!

"May, you know that she can't even eat, much less dress herself! We can't always be there to help baby he—"

"You shut the hell up!" She drew her fist back before letting it connect with his already broken nose. Her fist began to turn red and a small pink spot appeared on her knuckle. The cast on the bridge of his nose had caused some of her skin to wear off, but she didn't care.

"Shit!" Drew groaned, falling to the ground. Pain seared through his entire face as blood began to trickle from his nostrils. The bruises on his face were now in plain sight, looking even worse than they did before.

"That's enough!" Gary stood up and bellowed.

"I'm not done with him!" May shrieked, picking up her glass from the coffee table. She drank the rest of her soda down in one gulp before raising her arm, ready to bash the now empty glass on Drew's skull.

"May!" Leaf screamed.

"Stop it!" Dawn dropped her phone on the ground and with all her might, forced herself forward. Her hand made an attempt to grab onto the hoodie of May, who was standing a few feet in front of her. However, she fell to the ground as both Drew and May were practically on the other side of the coffee table.

In shock, May released the glass, which fell onto the wooden flooring right next to Drew's head and shattered, spraying bits and shards everywhere. The said boy winced and balled himself into the fetal position, shielding his already beaten up face as best as he possibly could. May, however, took no notice of this, her concern for Dawn overriding the anger that she felt towards the chartreuse-haired boy.

After quickly recovering from her shock, May turned her gaze to the bluenette. "Dawn! Are you okay?"

"May," she breathed quietly. "I love you. You know that. But this time, you took it way too far." Dawn gazed painfully up at her. Her sparkling gold orbs were filled with disappointment. "It was an accident. He didn't mean it."

"Y-You're too forgiving, damn it! How can you just casually brush off everything that he said?!"May wailed, beginning to cry. "I won't always be here to get mad for you! Let me feel for you while I can!"

"May..." Leaf's eyebrows furrowed together as did Gary's.

"I don't need you to get mad for me! Whenever you do you always end up hurting someone and either way I can do it on my own!" Dawn nearly screamed, raising her voice.

"What...?" May stepped back in shock, eyes wide as tears leaked from them.

"I have my own emotions! I can get mad on my own! It's like Drew said! I don't have working legs, and I only have one working arm and hand! There's pretty much nothing I can do!" She cried out, fist tightening. "But there's one thing that I can do! And that thing is feeling the way I feel! Emotions and all! I don't need you to do that for me, and I don't want you to take that away from me! You don't know what I'm feeling at all, May! You think you understand everything about me but you don't!"

"I–I'm sorry!" May sobbed. "Holy shit, I'm sorry! I'm sorry, Dawn! I didn't know... I didn't mean to...!"

"I'm not the one you need to be apologizing to." Calming down as quickly as usual, Dawn smiled softly. Leaf, not wanting to leave her on the floor, stood up and helped her back onto the couch.

"But Dawn, he-"

"May. I wasn't offended by what he said. Don't worry about it anymore." She looked down at her useless limbs. "I actually am holding you all back. You guys shouldn't have to be thinking of me all of the time."

"She didn't mean to do anything wrong, Dawn." Leaf stammered, eyebrows knitting together in worry.

"I know... Look, guys, I think I'm just going to go home." The petite girl rubbed her temple.

"What? Why?" Gary questioned. He hoisted Drew up and laid him down on the couch. The chartreuse-haired boy was groaning and moaning in pain, tears welling up in his eyes. His hands grabbed at his face in an attempt to protect it and shield it from the eyes of the others. He held his head in his hands, allowing his tears to slip out and down his cheeks. Would... would his mother say anything upon seeing his face?

"It's getting late and it's a school night," she replied, looking over to May, who was still wiping her eyes. "Please take me home."

"Alright... I'm sorry Drew." May stood up and looked at Drew before quickly looking at Gary. Nodding, Gary grabbed Dawn and held her bridal style. Leaf glared at him in response, but that glare quickly faded, and he knew that this was because she understood that he was trying to be helpful.

"It's okay. I guess I deserved it, Maple... But seriously, that was terrifying as fuck. I thought you were seriously going to kill me or something..." Drew sniffed before wincing and laughing, trying to lighten the intense atmosphere. Whining again, he turned himself over and lazily gazed up at Gary with glazed over eyes. "Take me to the hospital, Gary."

"Sure thing." Gary nodded as Drew stood up and began to walk out the hangout room.

"Can I come? My mom won't care if I come home late, and I have nothing better to do." Leaf murmured, standing up and picking up her handbag.

"I don't care, let's just go, please!" Drew muffled a short cry.

"Alright, alright." Gary laughed before glancing at Dawn's phone, which was still ringing off the hook on the floor.

"Your phone's been ringing off the hook for a while now." Leaf commented, also taking notice of it. She was still on edge due to the earlier outbursts between Dawn and May, but aside from that, she kept her composure.

"Huh? Oh!" Dawn blushed in embarrassment, looking down at her cell-phone, which was, in fact, still ringing on the floor. She wanted to reach down and grab it with her left hand, but the fact that she was in Gary's arms being carried bridal-style made that impossible.

"Who is it?" May inquired, heading out of the room and up the stairs.

Leaf bent down and picked up Dawn's phone, handing it over to her. Afterwards, she immediately walked out of the area after May with Gary following her in pursuit. He shifted Dawn in his arms before beginning to climb up the steps.

"It's..." She pulled it to her chest before turning it on. Her eyes skimmed the screen, finding a very familiar contact name, 'Dumb Plum'. Eyes widening, she flicked her thumb down her lock-screen, only to see eight messages from him.

 **'Dawn. Where are you?'**

 **'I stopped by your place. But your mom said you went out with some friends.'**

 **'Hey, sorry... about the other day.'**

 **'You aren't with Gary, are you?'**

 **'You want me to treat you to some of that cake at The Setting Moon?'**

 **'Are you pissed...?'**

 **'Have you stopped by the hospital lately? Did you take your pills?'**

 **'Friday. After school. Can I buy you some apology cake or something?'**

Paul was almost like a completely different person when he texted her. He was a lot more honest, caring, open-minded... Dawn quickly unlocked her phone and opened up her messenger, typing out the following message:

 **'The Setting Moon? Is that the cafe we were at when you kissed me? I guess we can go tomorrow, but if you have nothing decent to say or do, then I'll leave right after I get my apology cake, thanks.'**

After making sure that no one was watching, she hurriedly sent the message to Paul, before shutting off her phone.

"S-so? W...Who was it from?" Leaf asked curiously, panting from exhaustion because she was helping May carry Dawn's (still folded) wheelchair outside.

"It was from my... my mom." Dawn responded cautiously, pursing her lips together.

"O-Oh? W...What did she need?" May asked, also panting from exhaustion.

"Can you guys hurry up?" Drew frowned, tapping his foot impatiently. He wiped away the tears dripping down his face. "I sort of have a re-broken nose."

"Yeah, yeah..."

"Hey... Gary?" Drew paused as he watched May from a distance as she and Leaf worked to assemble the wheelchair once they had brought all of the parts down the steps. Holding his face, he looked over at Gary who had taken a seat on the top step of his porch. The spiky-haired brunette was still holding Dawn; even though the bluenette looked tense because of his touch, she seemed to be about ready to fall asleep.

"Paul's damn lucky to have such a chill girl. Leaf wouldn't dare trust me to get this close to her." Gary sighed softly, watching Leaf intently with his emerald green eyes.

"Gary?" Drew repeated.

"Sorry, what?" Gary murmured.

"My face hurts a lot... But anyways, when you, Leaf, and I get back from the hospital, could I spend the night at your place?" Drew questioned hesitantly. He was worried by the thought of Gary rejecting him.

"You aren't going to go home?" Gary raised an eyebrow, standing up and carrying Dawn down to her wheelchair, which May and Leaf had just finished assembling. He stood and waved at the two girls as May picked up her toolbox and rolled Dawn to her car while Leaf looked back at him and Drew.

"Are we going?" Leaf called out to him worriedly.

"Yeah, let's go!" Gary whipped out his keys and began to move towards his parked King Ranch. However, upon hearing no footsteps behind him, he stopped. "Drew?"

"No. There's no place for me there." Drew muttered.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Gary questioned, eyebrows furrowing together.

"Home. The reason why I want to stay with you is because there's no place for me at home."\

 _ **Friday-After-School-**_

"I'll text you when I want to go home."

"Alright, sweetheart." Johanna gently grabbed Dawn and kissed her forehead before hurrying off to her van.

"Let's go." Dawn sighed, waiting for Paul to take the handles of her wheelchair.

"Hnn..." He nodded, rolling her quickly and carefully down the streets.

It was around four and it was still clear and light out. However, it wouldn't be long until things would darken. Despite February coming to an end, the days still fell into night faster than the eye could blink. Tonight had to go well or Dawn would choose to leave early. The chances of her taking the cake and simply walking out of the cafe on him were also incredibly high, due to the fact that it was a Friday evening. He really had to limit his responses and behavior this time.

"Is Chili going to be there?" Dawn mumbled, hoping that the man would be there to cut off conversations when things got awkward like they did last time.

"Yeah... But there's a small chance that he'll actually be assigned to us, if the place is busy like last time. That was just a lucky chance." Paul grunted back, slamming open the door to the building with his foot and pushing her in.

As usual, the cafe was dimly-lighted and relaxing. The familiar low purr of the people chatting comforted Dawn and seemed to draw the cold right out of her. It was warm and made her feel like she was sitting at home on the couch with her mother.

There was an unfamiliar-looking man with a short, black beard standing in front of them. Without hesitation, Paul set her to the side and walked up to him. She couldn't hear what they were talking about, but Dawn knew that he was getting them a table. Paul nodded several times before returning and silently grabbing the handles of her chair; he then proceeded to direct it into the cafe.

The man scratched his beard and snapped his small book shut before setting it onto the polished dark red desk. Guiding them forward with the point of his index finger, he watched as they moved past. There weren't as many people as there were when Dawn had last been here, so the peacefulness that she felt from within increased. Music played as gently as it did before in the background while the sky was slightly lighter out.

"Wait just a second." A gruff voice came from the man as they arrived at the table. He returned to his place at the front desk and didn't show the slightest signs of coming back.

Dawn stared blankly at Paul, who was about to sit down in the booth when he remembered that she couldn't move herself. He stepped towards her but stopped, a hesitant look spreading over his face. Her dull yellow orbs met his black eyes in what seemed like a never ending staring contest. Discomfort seemed to flood over, causing him to tense up. But, Dawn just stared on.

The last thing she wanted was to be touched by him. A small shiver crept down her spine at the thought of it. There was something deep within her that almost pushed past her distaste for physical contact with men. In fact, one could say that she secretly enjoyed Paul's touch in the least strange way possible. Despite his hands being cold, they were somewhat comforting. Dawn was reminded of her father whenever he picked her up, which wasn't necessarily bad, but not exactly the nicest either.

"Quickly. I don't want you to touch me for more than five seconds." Dawn murmured silently.

"Hnn..."

She could have sworn she saw a flash of pain upon his face. However, if he was hurt by it, he sure didn't show it. Closing her eyes, Dawn took a deep breath, relaxing her tensed up body. It was very quiet, but she could also hear Paul inhale and exhale softly before moving as quickly as possible. Before she knew it, his hands were on her hips.

Dawn bit the inside of her cheek as she felt herself being moved quickly from her wheelchair to the seat of the booth. His lingering touch made her heart feel very strange and somewhat uncomfortable.

"Sorry." Paul apologized quietly, folding up her wheelchair. He swiftly slid into the seat right across her, dragging the wheelchair into the area next to him.

"It's... okay..." She replied hesitantly.

"How have you been...?" Paul murmured, looking around for the waiter. He wanted to at least make sure Dawn had her strawberry cake in front of her, so it would be easier to try and talk everything out. Kissing her was indeed wrong on his part, but for some reason it felt so right. Besides, he wasn't wrong when he told the others that it seemed like she was enjoying it. But he shook his head, not wanting to think any more about it. He was here to apologize for it, not to elaborate on it, right?

"Good, good!" Dawn slapped on a smile, taking a massive and forceful mood swing. It took everything in her to do so, but this way, it would make it far easier to talk with him. Her sudden smiley outburst startled Paul, causing him to tense up even more.

"Leaf and May are doing well?" He took another quick glance around the cafe for a waiter.

"Very well..." She too felt her eyes sweep across the room.

"Drew's nose has healed up?" Paul questioned quietly.

"Ah- Well, it was healing... But then..." Dawn stiffened a little. It wasn't like him to ask so many questions. Usually Paul wasn't that curious to know things or to even talk with others. Despite him clearly being more open and friendly around her, it was still incredibly strange for her to see him so anxious.

"Then?" he cocked an eyebrow.

"Well... I'm pretty sure May re-broke it." She gave a small smile and averted her gaze, muffling a small chuckle with her left hand. It was really mean to laugh about the situation, but she just couldn't help it. The thought seemed much funnier than the actual scenario playing out in front of her.

"I see." Paul cracked a grin. His short yet familiar laugh was what caused her eyes to snap right back to him. Paul's smile was far nicer than his frown and his usually dull coal-black eyes only ever lit up when he was happy or amused. Lately, she had found that she was inspecting and staring at him a whole lot more. She was sort of afraid of him; however, she was also curious about him at the same time. It was a very strange feeling, which usually caused her head to hurt, due to all the mixed emotions stirring up inside her chest. Seeing him today... was probably a mistake on her part.

"Well, look what the cat dragged in, it's you two again!" Chili's cheerful, booming voice echoed out. By now, almost none of the customers raised an eyebrow or even looked his direction as they were used to it. It hadn't been very long since he'd started working at the cafe, but somehow he managed to get to know at least a little bit about each of the regulars. So a majority of the people were used to his wild, fiery spirit.

"Chili!" Dawn perked up, smiling and waving at him.

"Lil' Blue, I see you're on a date with Paul." Chili grinned, running a hand through his flaming red hair. "Paul, I see you got lucky. I'm surprised you actually got a girl to go out with you again!"

"It's not a date." Paul shook his head without hesitation.

"Oho? So, you're just having a little bit of... fun?" Chili waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"Never." Dawn replied bluntly in the dullest voice.

"So, are you going to be our waiter again?" Paul quickly asked him, not wanting to let Dawn's icy expression and careless words sink in.

"Nope. But I'll introduce you to Ash. He's a new employee, so go easy on him." Chili winked, yanking the arm of a bright-eyed, raven-haired boy. He was dressed in a formal black vest with a white dress shirt. His pants were coal black, opposite of his teeth, which were a pearly-white. Ash's entire face was lit up and a goofy grin was displayed across his face.

"Hi there!" Ash practically bellowed excitedly.

"Hello!" With a sudden change in mood, Dawn returned the big smile. Noticing this, Paul frowned a little. Her mood was always better when she was around anybody but him, even strangers. As much as he may have deserved it, it still irked him off.

"I'll leave you to them, got it?" Chili gave Ash a pat on the back before jogging off to another table where a few customers were waiting.

"Got it!" Ash exclaimed about as loudly as Chili before turning and looking at Paul and Dawn. "So hey, can I... get you guys anything to drink?"

"A cup of black coffee." Paul replied almost instantly. Frantically, Ash searched his pockets before pulling out a little black notebook with his name printed on the hardcover of it in gold letters. He whipped a pen out of his back pocket before quickly writing it down.

"Sugar?"

"No." Paul shook his head, a shiver running up his spine at the thought of it.

"You don't like sugar?" Ash questioned. He stared blankly at Paul as if he was crazy.

"No," he grumbled.

"Of course." Dawn sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Ah... Well, what can I do for you?" Ash shook his head and looked back to Dawn.

"I'm in the mood for something... sweet." She replied slowly.

"Soda?" he suggested.

"No." The petite young girl said with a shake of her head.

"Hmm. How about some tea or a milkshake?" Ash frowned as she shook her head again. "Milk? Juice?"

"I'm not really sure. I know what I want, but I don't..." Dawn pouted, trying quickly to decide. She didn't want to stay too long, but she was also both thirsty and hungry for something almost sugary.

"Pink lemonade?" Paul lazily threw his suggestion out there almost like a demand. It was as if he knew exactly what Dawn wanted before she herself did and was voicing it for her.

"Oh..." With a pause, Dawn froze her thoughts. After a couple seconds, she looked up at Ash with a smile and nodded. "I'll go with that."

"Alright! Sounds great!" he exclaimed, jotting it down in his notebook before taking off and into the kitchen.

"Took you long enough." Paul grumbled, folding his arms and leaning back in the booth. His eyes strayed to his right where a familiar glass window was. When he looked through it, he could see the slightly darker sky tainting everything in its cloudy, light gray tint.

"Hey, Paul," she frowned, speaking unconsciously in a unhappy tone.

"Hn?" he scowled, not bothering to even look back at her.

"...You called me here to talk, right...?" Dawn mentally smacked herself. The girl was not about to let herself ask him, 'how do you somehow know what I want?'

Paul was a decent person, despite everything that the others say about him. She knew that much. But something about him both interested her and disgusted her. The way he took advantage of her was about as horrible as his attitude toward everyone, including her. And yet, there was something that kept twisting her right back to him. This person is surely not deserving of respect, right?

"Yeah. Look, I know that I should have asked for your permission before kissing you. I probably shouldn't have done that on the spur of the moment, and I know that you had no way of stopping me. You know that I don't really like to think about things too much, but I'm sorry..." Paul mumbled, eyes trailing off to the side.

"I see..." She slowly nodded.

"I probably shouldn't have done that..." He mumbled again.

"You need to show some... restraint." Dawn murmured.

"Yeah. I know." The boy frowned and agreed.

"Good." Dawn nervously shifted in the booth.

"Here you are!" Ash loudly shouted, setting the two drinks down on the polished wood table with several loud clacks.

"That was fast." She looked up at him and smiled before leaning forward and taking a sip out of the glass through a white straw.

"Sure was!" he exclaimed back.

"Can you just bring us a strawberry cake?" Paul frowned, staring down at his black coffee.

"Sure thing!" Ash laughed, rushing back into the kitchen.

"Why do you have to be so rude?" Dawn's eyebrows furrowed together.

"He was being irritating." Paul muttered his response.

"Can't you be just a little bit nice to him? He's new to the job." She sighed, rubbing her lifeless right hand with her left.

"He should be prepared for any situation." Paul replied bluntly, taking a sip from the mug in his hand. The coffee was hot and bitter. Just the way he liked it. Not sweet, not sour, but plain.

"But he–"

"I'm really sorry," Paul started, cutting her off.

"Paul..." Dawn stared into his coal-black eyes. She searched for any signs of emotion, but she could find none. They weren't necessarily cruel or mean, but they were blank. It was as if he was some sort of lifeless puppet staring back at her. Dawn was tempted to touch him, just to test for a reaction, but as soon as that thought crossed her mind, he sat back in his seat.

"But I don't regret doing it," he finished, setting his coffee down.

"What do you mean?" Her eyes narrowed and her tense glare became even more tense.

"Exactly what you heard." Paul rolled his eyes and snorted.

"But what does that mean?! That you enjoyed tormenting me?" Dawn frowned even more than she already was.

"That's not what I said."

"Well, I have a question for you," she grumbled, trying to process everything that had just been said.

"And what's that?" Paul took another drink of his coffee, locking eyes with her. Her piercing gold eyes were strained now, extremely uncomfortable with the conversation and where it might go.

"Why didn't you stop? I'm certain you saw my expression... Why didn't you stop, Paul?" Dawn bit the inside of her cheek as she slowly questioned him.

"I didn't feel like stopping," he replied casually, like it was no big deal.

"But why?" She raised her voice, trying to get her question through and into his head.

"You say that you wanted me to stop. However, that's not what I saw when I made eye-contact with you."

"You're a jerk!" Dawn blushed slightly in both frustration and embarrassment. Her fist clenched tightly in her lap. He was driving her nuts and if she didn't calm down soon, Dawn was certain she'd have another lung collapse.

"Look, I know that I'm extremely at fault here... But did you really have to start sobbing like a child afterwards?" His voice came out cold and icy.

This was not the Paul she knew. His voice should never come out with bitterness towards her. The Paul she knew was cold and rude on the outside but sweet and kind when he was alone with her. Yet, here they were, alone together, and he was acting like she was a stranger. Dawn's blood boiled.

"You don't understand! How the hell would you know, Paul?!" She wanted to scream, but instead, she used all her strength to lean forward and grab ahold of the collar of his shirt. Of course, she didn't want to make another scene in such a public place. The last incident was embarrassing enough.

"Chill out, will you?" Paul frowned, eyes narrowing. Of course, it wouldn't be hard for him to pry himself out of her grip as she was extremely weak. His eyes softened for a brief moment as he looked down at her small, fragile hand, but became stony as he heard her voice once more.

"I couldn't stop you... Don't you understand that?" Dawn whispered harshly.

"You could've stopped me, actually. I did nothing to restrain your hand, if you had given me a signal, I would have stopped. But, you didn't... So you have no right to complain about something that was partially your fault." Paul replied bitterly. His voice was emotionless and slightly scary. Dawn could feel herself stiffen as he stared deep into her eyes, awaiting a response. She released him before opening her mouth to reply.

"Paul, you know that my mobility isn't all that great! And despite knowing that, you took advantage of me in the moment!" she argued, reaching for her phone, which lay on the table next to her lemonade.

"That's not true. Like I said, I would've stopped if you had pushed me away," he growled, snatching up her phone and sliding it all the way to the end of the booth, out of her reach. "Let's talk about this, calm down."

"I did, Paul! I tried to!" The small girl slammed her left fist down onto the polished wood table. "Look, if the situation were reversed and you were in my position... If someone had done something like that to you, how would you feel?! How would you like it if that person just acted on their own wishes and didn't even bother to consider your feelings?!"

"Hey, you did not try to stop me." Paul glared.

"Yes! Yes I did!" Even more riled up than before, Dawn bit her lip hard enough to make it bleed in an immense amount of frustration.

"Really? Because it looked and felt like you were trying to pull me closer!" Equally frustrated, Paul slapped his hand to his chest to emphasize it.

"I had absolutely no way whatsoever to stop you. I had absolutely. No way whatsoever. To stop you. I couldn't shove you off of me or pull away. I was helpless, and you took advantage of that... Don't you understand that?!" The intensity of Dawn's anger at the plum-haired boy could clearly be seen on her face and heard in her voice.

Paul remained silent, waiting for her to finish her tirade.

"Tell me, if the situation were reversed," Dawn repeated after a few moments, in a softer tone. "If you were in the position where you wouldn't be able to do anything about it... If someone did something, anything to you just because they felt like it. If your wishes in the situation were completely and utterly ignored, how would you feel...What would you do?"

At this point, if Dawn could stand up, she would. And if she could, she would take her bag and rush out the door in an instant. However, she couldn't. She was practically locked in the seat of the booth. Paul had her phone and at the moment, so he was practically in control of her body and where she went.

"Well, I'd have my left fist, right? I'd probably punch them." Paul shrugged, his voice overflowing with boredom.

"Like I said, you just don't understand anything!" Dawn nearly screamed, her anger once again returning. After noticing that she was beginning to attract attention from the other customers sitting around them, she took a deep breath.

"Jesus, Dawn! Maybe I know more than you think I do! You're not the only person on Earth who's been disabled!" Paul snapped, glaring harshly at her. However, she simply returned the glare back.

"Give me my phone!" she seethed.

"Fine," he grunted, barely managing to keep himself from losing his composure any more than he already had. With that, he picked up her phone and slammed it onto the table with a loud smack before sliding it over to her.

Dawn said nothing as she swiftly unlocked her phone and dialed her mother's number. She was very slow at pressing the buttons with her non-dominant hand at first, but thanks to a lot of practice, she could now use her phone with her left hand just as fast as she used to be able to do with her right hand.

Paul's head fell into his hands and shot off in the direction of the large window, so that he could stare out it. The teenage boy gazed out the window for several minutes before closing his eyes. He wanted to talk to her, but he didn't want to apologize and he didn't think that she did either.

"Oh? You were already downtown?" Dawn muttered under her breath. "I see. Well, then I'll wait outside, okay?"

She shut her phone off and stuffed it in her bag before hastily trying to slide her bag onto her body. Her eyes travelled to Paul, filling with what she recognized to be disgust. Dawn tried to read him and his body language, but unfortunately, he was fairly good at hiding his emotions. He was simply acting like he usually does, which led her to believe that he wasn't too bothered by their recent conversation. Sighing, she shook her head and cleared her throat.

"I'll take you outside. But I have to stay here and pay for the bill, so I won't wait for you," he grumbled, standing up and sliding out of the booth. In a matter of seconds, her wheelchair was unfolded and pulled over to where she was seated. Paul, not even bothering to ask for her permission, roughly grabbed her and plopped her down in the chair like a rag doll.

It made her shiver, but she stayed quiet. His touch no longer burned nor lingered. In fact, it was both revolting and painful. Paul's touch was even worse now than it was when she had first arrived. He ignored the concerned employees of the cafe as he strolled out the door, rolling her along with him. She snuck a few glances at him, trying to decode his powerful mask, which hid all his thoughts and feelings from her. But after the doors were slammed open, and the cold, icy air nipped at her face, Dawn stared back down at her hands. It was stupid to think that he even cared about her. This guy... he was a terrible escort and friend.

The sky was lighter than it had been before, but it was still growing dim by the second. She couldn't wait until spring, when the days and their brightness would last longer. Dawn reached into her bag with her left hand for her scarf. However, she soon stopped rummaging through her bag and withdrew her good hand from it. That was right... she had left it at home because she didn't think it'd be too cold out. In all honesty, part of her was thinking that Paul would let her borrow his jacket once more. Although that clearly wasn't the case anymore, after all, her mother was coming to get her. At least she was reliable.

"I'm going inside. I already see her anyways, and I don't want to get arrested for 'not paying' a damn bill." Paul growled to her in his low-pitched, unfriendly tone.

"Then go." Dawn frowned, staring ahead and not bothering to look at him again. "Mama's gotten out of the car, she'll be here in seconds."

"...Hnn..." His grunt echoed in her head several times before fading away along with his heavy footsteps.

"Dawn!" Johanna waved her hand, jogging towards her wheelchair. She smiled brightly, navy blue hair similar to hers swaying back and forth as she ran.

"Hey..." Dawn smiled softly at her, not wanting to worry her mother about anything else.

"How did it go? Did you have fun with Paul?" The woman questioned her daughter, pulling off the scarf she had on and dressing Dawn in it. "Goodness, you sure didn't come prepared for the weather, did you, sweetheart? Here you go."

"You're in a good mood," she commented, forcing a small giggle.

"Yes indeed! But you don't seem to be, did something happen?" Johanna eyed the girl before taking the handles of the wheelchair and rolling Dawn towards the car.

"Yeah... kind of." Dawn murmured with a sigh.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she suggested hesitantly, rolling the wheelchair up a small pull-out ramp installed in her van before hooking the chair in. Johanna strapped Dawn in before locking her wheelchair into place. With a click of a button, the ramp folded inwards towards the interior of the car before disappearing right beneath the footstep of the car.

"No." The girl shook her head.

"Are you sure?" Johanna's eyebrows furrowed together in worry as she rested her hand loosely around the handle to the car door.

"Yeah... Thanks, mama," she muttered in the friendliest way possible.

"No problem, honey." Johanna nodded with a motherly smile, pulling the car door and walking off to the driver's seat as it closed automatically with a click.

Dawn could hear her mother start the engine and turn on the warm air. Tired, she lowered her head into her mother's scarf, burying her nose in it. It smelled nice. It smelled like her.

Her mother's scent was always reassuring even in the hardest of times. It was similar to May's scent, but different in the sense that it was sweet and pacifying like a mother's natural smell should be.

She would miss this scent.

* * *

 **Well that's a wrap!**

 **This chapter was probably the most time consuming, given my schedule.. especially since I got grounded ^^' Yeah... I sort of have a really brazen attitude so usually I'm called out for arguing or insulting adults. Super mature of me, right?**

 **Well, Lovely Mine chapter 4 is finally here!**

 **In this chapter, there was a whole lot of drama, yes? But I think we can all agree that this chapter emphasized Dawn's disability. After all, the life of a handicapped person isn't as sweet as I made it out to be in the first few chapters of Lovely Mine. Yeah.. those chapters were nothing. Here, Dawn deals with friend difficulties and empathy issues along with trying to figure out Paul...**

 **But of course, Paul is just sort of Paul. We see here that he reverted back to his same old self. Will he turn back to his lovely OOCish self? I guess we'll have to figure that out soon!**

 **Another big thanks to everyone who is still reading Lovely Mine despite my fairly long break. Oh- and I'd just like you all to know that I'll be collaborating with a friend here on Fanfic. They'll be pretty important to the development of Lovely Mine, so I'd like you to appreciate all the grammatical and story errors they correct along with events. Although sadly, they do not want me to disclose anything about their identity... So just remember that they are here and in the future, will probably be making Lovely Mine even better. So anyways, another special thanks to them. They're super good to me and very patient. You'd probably have all gotten fed up with my terrible writing and left if it weren't for her approaching me.**

 **I hope you'll all keep pursuing Lovely Mine!**

 **Things will get very awkward between the friends and Paul now.**

 **Here are some things to consider: (Why do I add this stuff... I don't even know. Maybe it's just to defend myself on any flaws you guys point out? lololol)**

 **How will May act around Drew?**

 **How will Leaf act around Drew?**

 **What will happen between Dawn and Paul next?**

 **Ash was introduced into the story!**

 **Do you think he'll have an important role?... (Eh, probably not tbh, but it's a good thought, right? Haha)**

 **If you have any questions, feel free to ask!**

 **Thank you once more for taking the time to read chapter 4 of Lovely Mine! I'd love to hear what you think and I absolutely love to read reviews!**

 **So feel free to drop a review and I hope you'll keep supporting Lovely Mine! Please review! I absolutely love reading them! I'd like to drop my other fanfiction and get Lovely Mine out there! Favorite it! Add it to your communities! Recommend it! Follow my story! I beg you! Give me a chance!**

 **Stay Lovely!**

 **~Bear!**


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